What are you growing in?

Posted September 29th, 2010 by CyleAugusta with No Comments

I love to grow things. This past summer I decided to grow the things i love the most about summer produce, tomatoes and basil. I did just that! The tomatoes grew well and gave us a good supply!

The basil however is a different story. It gave me more leaves than I could shake a stick at. It was incredible for a month solid. I picked a full plate daily. The boys learned to love a fresh basil leaf. It was normal for them to pick a leaf as we were loading into the van- actually their mommy did it too!

I made pesto, put it in almost everything, made fun snacks with triscuits, cream cheese and all kinds of other dishes. But one day….

I went to harvest some more basil as the leaves were abounding. I pinched a leaf off and popped it in my mouth. I spit it right back out. It was THE MOST BITTER taste I ever remember. What happened to my summer sweet basil? I followed all the rules. I did’nt let it flower. I quickly scoured the internet hoping to uncover my fault… no such luck. In an effort to not waste a load of basil I put it in mason jars filled with water and lemon rings. At least it frangranced my home nicely!

I continued to ponder the bitter basil. I recall that I poured some compost from the kitchen and maybe I threw something acidic on it. Yesterday I was clearing out the summer garden. The tomato plants produced their last tomato. But the basil, It continued to grow just as nice as ever. I chuckled as I realized how deceiving it was. Looked great but on the inside it was really useless, complete bitterness. It was all because of the soil it was growing in.

My thoghts turned to our hearts. At times everything can look great on the outside but we are filled with bitterness on the inside. We hear a lot of talk about growth in our Christian life.

I realized that we can actually be growing in things that hinder us….

I stopped completely drenched in sweat, and dropped the basil pot. I was having a moment with my God. He began to speak to me. He took my hand and showed me some places in my heart that were growing in bitterness, blame, accusation and self- righteousness.

He whispered to me that he wanted to restore those areas of my heart with sweet aromas and grow in me kindness, humility, long- suffering, compassion, courage and forgiveness.

The soil that the basil grew in was toxic to the plant, I thought about my heart and what I am exposing it to daily. I made an inventory of things that might taint the aroma of the fruits of the spirit.

Let us embrace this Autumn season and smell the beautiful smells.

What aroma is coming from your heart at this moment?
-Is it bitterness, rage, unbelief, negativity? -If so, invite the Holy Spirit to come in and wash you.

What are you growing in?

{ Love, Cyle Augusta}

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Written by CyleAugusta