Keith decided that since we have gone to so much trouble and spent so much money on this trellis with 9 vining plants, a raised bed and 36 periwinkles clustered at the base of the vines, that we should mulch it properly. So he bought 12 bags of cypress mulch. I am thrilled. I have already spent more time weeding this thing than I did the whole vegetable garden this year, and the other morning just as I was getting close to the purple trumpet flower a snake crawled out of it. I will be happy not to have to stick my face down so close to that vine in the future.
We often use the metaphor of weeds choking out a person’s spirituality. And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, and the care of the world and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word and he becomes unfruitful, Matt 13:22—certainly a good and scriptural analogy. We had a little problem with that in our beans this year as a matter of fact.
But if weeds growing up around a plant can choke it out, certainly a four inch layer of mulch lying around the plant can choke the weeds out. If we fill our lives with righteousness, with service to others, and with God’s word, sin won’t have a chance.
One reason weeds will choke out a plant is that they steal the nutrients out of the ground. They steal the water. They steal the sunlight by growing over the plants and shading them. A good layer of mulch will steal those same things from the weeds. They will not be able to grow, and meanwhile the plants will become stronger and larger. The mulch also keeps the ground cooler and retains moisture, creating a better environment for the plant. If a weed somehow does manage to find a crack through which to grow, the plant won’t die from it, and it is so obvious it will be pulled immediately.
Mulch your life today, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God, Phil 1:11. Surround yourself with good people who will encourage you and teach you, who will set good examples, and whose needs will keep you so busy serving you don’t have time for sin. Spend time with the word of God, reading, studying, attending Bible classes, and listening to sermons. Pray as often as you can, not just before bed and at meals. Cram so much righteousness into your life that no room remains for anything else. Then watch how seldom you sin and how much you grow, less of the one and more of the other than ever before.
For this cause we also, since the day we heard, do not cease to pray and make request for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding to walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory unto all patience and longsuffering with joy, Col 1:9-11.
Dene Ward
We often use the metaphor of weeds choking out a person’s spirituality. And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, and the care of the world and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word and he becomes unfruitful, Matt 13:22—certainly a good and scriptural analogy. We had a little problem with that in our beans this year as a matter of fact.
But if weeds growing up around a plant can choke it out, certainly a four inch layer of mulch lying around the plant can choke the weeds out. If we fill our lives with righteousness, with service to others, and with God’s word, sin won’t have a chance.
One reason weeds will choke out a plant is that they steal the nutrients out of the ground. They steal the water. They steal the sunlight by growing over the plants and shading them. A good layer of mulch will steal those same things from the weeds. They will not be able to grow, and meanwhile the plants will become stronger and larger. The mulch also keeps the ground cooler and retains moisture, creating a better environment for the plant. If a weed somehow does manage to find a crack through which to grow, the plant won’t die from it, and it is so obvious it will be pulled immediately.
Mulch your life today, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God, Phil 1:11. Surround yourself with good people who will encourage you and teach you, who will set good examples, and whose needs will keep you so busy serving you don’t have time for sin. Spend time with the word of God, reading, studying, attending Bible classes, and listening to sermons. Pray as often as you can, not just before bed and at meals. Cram so much righteousness into your life that no room remains for anything else. Then watch how seldom you sin and how much you grow, less of the one and more of the other than ever before.
For this cause we also, since the day we heard, do not cease to pray and make request for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding to walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory unto all patience and longsuffering with joy, Col 1:9-11.
Dene Ward
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