Free!                                                              29 August 2015

Way in the farthest back corner of our yard is a small garden that runs along the house and surrounds the air conditioning compressor-condenser unit.  It’s a part of the yard that we rarely visit, probably because it’s the smallest and least private part of the yard.  The oft-quoted “out of sight, out of mind” proverb applies to this little garden, so when I asked my husband this morning if there was a specific “yardening” job I could do, he immediately suggested that I take a look at that area to see if it needed attention.

Dragging garden tools and yard barrel to the back, I realized that we hadn’t weeded this garden for a long time—at least not since the end of winter.  The vining plants had taken over, so I brought our little lovebird out in her travel cage and set to work, pulling down strongholds of green briar, wild raspberry, wild pea and Virginia creeper.  There was Japanese fern vine, native Maypop, and some other viny thing that I don’t know the name of, all growing up and covering my pretty little dwarf azalea shrubs that break the winter spell with their tiny snow-like blossoms in late February.  The dreaded Spanish moss had also landed on these shrubs and had begun to hang down in silvery gobs- yuck!

Thorny green briar had grown up through the shrubs, building thick and heavy crowns of large dark leaves in masses over the azalea tops.  Japanese fern vine grows up next to the trunks and snakes its way around and around each branch, using strong wire-like stems to tightly squeeze whatever it touches and block sunlight with full, frilly clumps of light green ferny leaf sets.  The red-stemmed Virginia creeper just shoots up into the lower branches, looking for support by weaving its way through the center of the shrub without the clasping tendril of a typical vine.  I pause to consider that at least the local grapevines hadn’t found this part of the yard yet…

Ensconced in the masses that were growing as high as my shoulders, I worked to carefully extract each vine from the fragile shrubs—too much pulling or ripping would break the thin azalea branches.  Working from the ground up, I located the source of each separate vine, yanking roots and cutting deep into the earth to remove as much of the offending plant as possible before snipping my way to the top of each shrub.  What a job!  After two hours I finally finished removing all of the misplaced vines and stepped back to admire the cleaned out garden.  Yay!  Good for the next few months anyway, when cooler weather will step down the rampant summer growth for another year.  The azaleas almost seemed to thank me with a deep, happy breath of freedom!

As I worked to free these shrubs from the clutches of their enemy vines, of course it occurred to me that this is just like the work of the Holy Spirit to free us from those evil things that hold us fast and darken our worlds with their squeezing tendrils and thick, leafy shadows.  Anything that keeps us from the light of Christ is like a strong, sinister vine of danger and death.  I’ve written about this before—we can ask the great Gardener to help us clean out these snares so that we can thrive again in His presence.  Here are a few verses that demonstrate His willingness to help us weed our own gardens:

God spoke through he prophet Jeremiah while the Israelites were in bondage to the Babylonians: “‘In that day [the day of restoration],’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them.” (Jeremiah 30:8)

Jesus began His ministry on earth by declaring that He had come to set us free: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4: 18, 19)

He also told the Jews who came to hear Him, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” and “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (Luke 8: 31, 32 and 36)

Not to completely confuse you, dear reader, but Jesus described Himself as a vine—a very good strong and life-sustaining vine, just like the grapevines that the Hebrew people knew well.  He told them this: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (John 15: 1- 4)

If evil vines ensnare us today, we can turn to the true vine and ask Him to set us free from those troubles so that we can thrive and bear good fruit.  This is a freedom filled with joy and peace.  Like my azaleas, we can be blessed in the Garden today!