I Garden. He speaks. {hidden sin}

A friend of mine planted a garden for me to tend to in our back yard.

He told me to weed it once a week and be sure it gets some water.

I've always wanted to have a garden,

and today I went out to weed for the first time.

The quietness and hands-to-the-earth atmosphere forced me to think.

No music.

No internet.

No sewing machine.

To think.

and to listen.

{And I think I heard a lot.}

You know, Jesus used plants and farms and soil often in His teachings.

It seems appropriate that He would continue to reveal some truths to me through my garden.

I garden.  Jesus speaks.

 Here is what He said today:

 Dirt under my fingernails.

yuck.

I came in from weeding and immediately went to the sink to wash my hands.

They were covered in dirt.

As soon as the water hit my skin, the dirt melted off.

quick.

But the dirt wasn't completely gone.

It still lingered there stuck underneath my fingernails.

It was hidden.

and hard to get rid of.

That is my sin.

The big sins - the obvious ones are like the dirt on the outside of my hands.

{you know... sins like murder, stealing, cursing... the ones everyone can see.}

But what hidden dirt do I have?

The ones harder to get rid of because no one can see them.

{maybe sins like lying, or copying DVD's from the library, or anger, or HATE}

That dirt would be invisible if I had just painted my nails a pretty red or pink.

What am I trying to cover up the impurities of my heart with?

A smile?

An "everything's alright" attitude?

For me, one of those deep hidden sins is pride.

It comes in different forms at different times.

Sometimes HIGH pride.

Often LOW pride.

Either way it's selfish because I only think of myself.

Either how good I am.

Or how awful I am.

But Jesus is there.

In my mess.

In my dirt.

Painting over it.

But not with fingernail polish.

With His blood.

His sacrifice washes pride from my life like water.

Then he takes a sharp file and scrapes out the hard to reach places so I can be clean.

I'm not sure how.

And I'm not exactly sure why.

Just that He does.

It's the kind of business He's into.