Flower Bed Before Mulch
The flower beds were a mess. Some still are since it’s a work in progress. I didn’t add any mulch in the fall, so the weeds were free to multiply and the warm winter helped them along.
But, thankfully, I’ve had some time and been able to work on the beds. Here’s what they’re starting to look like.
Flower Bed with Pine Straw Mulch
My favorite mulch (and the favorite of many folks around here in south Georgia) is pine straw. It’s abundant and relatively inexpensive. I like the way it looks, too – makes things nice and neat.
But, although it does look good, the main purposes of the mulch aren’t aesthetic. Mulch is used to stop the weeds from growing – hopefully to keep the ground dark enough that the weed seeds don’t even sprout. And, it’s used to retain the moisture when the summer gets hot and dry.
In my pondering as I put out the pine straw, I wondered if there was such a thing as spiritual mulch. We certainly need something to keep the spiritual weeds from growing – those thoughts or actions that begin siphoning off our nourishment that God provides. Those things that begin to shade our heart and mind from God’s presence.
We also need ways to keep the living water around us during times of spiritual drought.
I decided that prayer and Bible study are two necessary components of spiritual mulch. Consistent prayer (with the right attitude) keeps us close to God. Bible study continually reminds us who God is, who we are in relation to Him, and what He has done for us.
Those ingredients will keep the spiritual weeds from growing (and having worked hard at getting rid of weeds in the flower bed, I can say it’s much easier to keep them from growing than to remove them later) and they will keep the living water flowing from Jesus.
“Pray without ceasing” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV
“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” John 7:37 ESV
I Was Thinking the Other Day About... 
Profound analogy and very thought provoking. The prayer and study time are both reflective – on Him. They both do the same thing … Draw us closer to Him.
Thanks Heather – glad it gave you some thoughts. Good point on who we should be focusing on.
Looks like you’re doing a good job with your flowerbed. I’ve never heard of pine straw, but if it’s really from pine it would be great for this area where the soil is so alkaline. I’ve read that evergreen needles put a lot of acid in the soil.
It’s a good analogy, too; we need to wrap ourselves in spiritual truths because there are so many folks proposing ‘easier’ ways, using only the ‘blessings’ parts of the Word.
I’ve been compiling my book this week and of the 120-odd poems I have, I’m finding it hard to know which to include.
Thanks, Christine. Pine straw is pine tree needles and yes, it is acidic. I guess it decomposes at a slow enough rate that it doesn’t send the ph too far off though. Sometimes you do have to clear it out and start over.
Glad you like the analogy – many do focus on the blessings. I like to remember the verses where they divided the people between the mountains and God gave the blessings and curses.
On what to include in the book, I had to do it the engineer way – get an idea of how many pages I wanted (by words/page), determine how many words I needed for that, listed out the stories in no particular order (along with words in each story) and then stopped in the list when I had the total.
Food to think about. Caring for the soil and caring for the seed beds of our hearts, patience , persistence, disregarding blistered hands, I think you’re right .. Something to carry over into our prayer. Thankyou
Thanks for the comment – glad you enjoyed the post – I like the “disregarding blistered hands” thought.
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I like the way you think! I think I’ll go invest a little time in my own spiritual flower bed. Thanks for the encouragement.
\o/
Praising Jesus!
And, thanks for the encouraging words from you, too, Tami. Amen!
Thanks, Tami – I appreciate the encouraging words from you too.
Blessings Bill,
Spiritual mulch, I like that:) I found your post intriguing, yet extremely insightful. I agree 100%, if we keep ourselves in the presence of the Lord it gives us the ability to maintain the garden with life giving water, and to nip the weeds at the root before they have a chance to sprout. Keep up the God work brother. Great Analogy for the love of Jesus Christ.
God bless you and yours,
Thanks, Michael – I appreciate the encouraging words.
Indeed:)