Rom 16:19b … but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. ESV

Our Walk With God is just too short to waste any time that doesn’t improve us in a moral way. The Word uses the term “edify,” which means to build. Everything that we do in our walk should be building on Jesus and the building materials are to be gold, silver, and precious stones … not wood, hay, and stubble (1 Cor 3:12).

But Jesus can do nothing for us unless we are prepared to let Him, and be obedient to the voice of His Spirit. This entails our surrendering our will to Him in order that He can make us wise to that which is good and that which is evil. We must steadfastly determine to set our face toward good and our back to evil. And we can rest assured that there will be conflict between the two because our old nature has a strong leaning toward evil and it presses against our spirit.

Our heart is like a garden and we will grow weeds naturally, but if it is to grow flowers it must be plowed, harrowed, cultivated, nourished, and weeded. Only then can we have the results that turn into the fruit of the Spirit.

In that regard, I was given some important wisdom some time ago: “Sow a thought and reap an action.” Sow an action and reap a habit.” “Sow a habit and reap a character.” “Sow a character and reap a destiny.” Paul put it this way:

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. ESV

Phil 3:13-14 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ESV

So, we need to be ever mindful that this is the will of God for our lives here on earth, and He will never stop working on us toward that end … our conformation into the image of Jesus. This is the path for our life because Jesus is the purpose of life. And the place to pause along the way is in the garden of our heart where there is a bench for two … where Jesus is always waiting for us.