Our family decided to plant a bigger garden this year. It started off with my wife wanting me to till that old hard ground. She started bringing in mulch material for me to till in and I did not think she was ever going to stop. I finally got all the material tilled in, then started the watering. She and my daughter were looking at different seed catalogues. Then went to town and bought some plants and ordered some seeds through the mail. This was followed by planting and more watering. Shortly came the problem of weeding and finally a top mulch. Now we have fresh squash daily, green beans, tomatoes, (my favorite) and other kinds of fresh vegetables. We just sit back and admire it and enjoy the produce from it. That garden reminds me of something in the Christian life. There is no such thing as a instant garden and there is also no such thing as instant Christian maturity. Both take a lot of time and hard work and constant care. But there is a reward involved. When we make an effort to remove the things from our lives that are not pleasing to God and put in the things that he approves of there will be a harvest of good things, (Colossians 1:10, Romans 7:4, John 15:8, 1 Corinthians 3:7) a life filled with love, joy and peace. See you in Church next Sunday.