Through the years I’ve had a growing interest in gardening. However, as I have gotten older, I’ve found it more difficult to crawl around on the ground doing that work. Thus, some years ago, my husband built a garden box so that I could stand to care for my plants. It’s not large, but it is wonderful! I love to add fresh soil each spring, prepare the rows and add the seeds, covering them gently and then giving them a good drink. I water faithfully and eventually little plants appear.

I’m fascinated by God’s creation when I see how different each plant looks. There are feathery greens that become carrots, little pointed greens that become onions and wider leaves that become pea plants or lettuce. I continue to water them to encourage them to grow so that eventually there is produce that I can take into the house and enjoy.

Soon, however, I notice intruders who are also growing in my garden that I did not plant! They likely arrive in my garden by blowing in on the wind or by being present in the extra soil I add. Ignoring or nurturing these weeds allows them to overtake the garden because weeds are greedy and pushy. Their presence is harmful because they draw the water and nutrients from the soil that I intend for the vegetables. If I don’t pull the weeds, they eventually spread and crowd out the good things I planted.

I was thinking that our lives can be something like a garden. We attempt to put good things into our lives by spending time with people whose influence is positive, reading God’s Word, praying, and using scripture to focus our minds on what God wants. The following verse gives us a good idea of where our focus should be. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things,” (Philippians 4:8 NIV).

Yet, there are things that enter our minds and hearts that we had no intention of planting there. Those thoughts are greedy and pushy too! The negative influences could come from something someone said that hurt us, interacting too much with negative people, or listening to songs that are not God honoring that plant unhealthy pictures in our minds. There could be a movie we thought would be “cleaner” than it was; yet we kept watching anyway. It could come from co-workers’ negative language or a frustrating encounter in a store or on the road.

As those negative things settle into the soil of our hearts and minds, we have a decision to make. We may nurture them by replaying them over and over, so that they become part of us. If we do that, we are prone to become bitter, angry, defensive people. Our other choice is to strive to get rid of them by dealing directly with the situation that caused them. If we don’t take action, they too begin to draw from the good in our lives and make it harder for us to keep our God focus.

Let’s make the choice to stay away from these negative influences and care very deliberately for the good in the garden of our hearts so that we might become more and more the people God wants us to be. “Stop being mean, bad-tempered and angry. Quarreling, harsh words, and dislike of others should have no place in your lives. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another just as God has forgiven you because you belong to Christ,” (Ephesians 4:31-32 TLB).

Helen’s second book, “Journeys in Faith, Pursing Obedience,” which contains more than 50 more devotionals written for The Minot Daily News, is now available online or by contacting her at jesusisthereason01@gmail.com.