Azaleas, Rocks, and Hearts

Behold one of our lowly dwarf azaleas. Granted, dwarf azaleas take five to seven years to grow to their full height, but after three years of no growth it finally dawned on us that maybe, just maybe, the decorative rocks in the flower beds might be a hindrance.

The rocks had been put in the flower beds by previous owners of our house. While they look pretty, we ourselves haven't added them to any new flower beds we've put in. Three windows bear dings from rocks flung by weed eaters (before our time) and now we have finally realized what an impediment they pose to plant growth.

It took an hour per plant to dig down and around and get those snarky stones out. They had wormed their way deep into the earth, making it no easy feat to remove them from around the azaleas' poor little struggling roots and replace that space with nice, rock-free dirt. But it was worth it. This spring, after three years of relatively little growth, our little azaleas grew more branches, leaves, and bloomed with more flowers than ever before.

No wonder God said He would replace our stony heart with one of flesh (Ezequiel 36:26). A stony heart cannot grow, it cannot bloom, it cannot produce fruit. Even back in Old Testament times, Solomon wrote: "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23).

Interestingly enough, a couple of verses in Philippians 4 actually give us a "how-to" for guarding our heart. To the Christians at Philippi Paul wrote, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (v 7). The word "and" at the beginning of the verse is a conjunction, a part of speech that joins words or thoughts that are grammatically equal. In short, it means that the preceding verse lays out something that is intrinsically related to guarding our heart. So what exactly did Paul admonish in verse six? Simply to present every need with thanksgiving to the Lord. In other words, praying, praising, and guarding our heart—they are all one and the same.

Yes, we are made a new creation when we give our life to Jesus. It is wonderful and glorious. But living in this world as a new creation does not give us a free pass from all the sinful junk out there. Just because we give our life to Jesus does not mean that the devil will snap his fingers and say, "Aw, shucks! I lost one today. Sad face," and go on his merry way. He might have lost a wayfarer on his way to hell, but it ain't over till its over. Look what he did to Job. He doesn't give up easily. Our mortal enemy will redouble his efforts to discourage us, trip us up, and, above all, have us add rocks to the fertile soil of our heart. If he can get us to add stones to the heart of flesh God has given us, he will be well on his way to have us harden our hearts to all that God would have for us.

It is with good reason that Paul admonishes us in Hebrews, "Harden not your hearts" (Hebrews 3:8). If we let the world's "stuff" hurt and damage the nice, soft heart Jesus gave us, we'll get in a world of trouble. Just like the rocks impeding the growth of our little azaleas, we have to dig those hard, nasty stones out. And just what constitutes one of those damaging rocks? 2 Timothy 3:1-9 lists 23 sins; Romans 1:22-32 lists 28; and Galatians 5:19-21 names 17 works of the flesh. Dennis explains more about these in his Bible Sermon Notes entitled The Plague of Sin in the Last Days. May God help us root out any vestiges of these hurtful stones, before they grow from pebbles to boulders and lodge permanently in our heart.

Let's strive to keep our hearts soft, rock-free, and fertile for spiritual growth. Let's take the lesson learned from our formerly stunted azaleas. Instead of withering spiritually with rocks of sin and discouragement, let's take a page from Philippians four and live a life of prayer, praise, and enjoy the privilege of growing in Jesus.

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18).

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).