Labour of Love

The trouble with great weather is that you need to exercise self-discipline.

A run of great weather beckons me outside, day after day, leaving writing projects unstarted, never mind the housework which is always bottom of my to-do list.

And so I laboured amongst the flower beds again today, knowing that when they are as finished as they will ever be, the vegetables and fruit are waiting around the corner. Yes, I do enjoy the garden, but it certainly is a LABOUR of love. 

We have been enjoying some of the fruits of those labours though. Loads of delicious raspberries, black currants, gooseberries, rhubarb and now some green beans and peas. Soon it will be time for the carrots and potatoes. And apples! The branches of the cooking apple tree are nearly on the ground, so heavily laden are they. 

One of the best things about eating food from our garden is knowing there have been no chemicals sprayed on them. Our bodies get a chance to detox, however fleeting a chance it is.

The thing about the Word of God, which we are invited to taste and ruminate on, is that it, also, is free from chemicals. It is pure and healthy and nourishes us from the inside. But we have to take care how we read it, because just about anything can be read into it, which might, in fact, poison our minds and our understanding. 

So the Bible needs to be prayed over before read, and then read carefully, listening for God’s instruction to come through. 

Feeding my soul is like responding to good weather and it, too, requires self-discipline.