Rocks

Yesterday was another lovely day at home. It was especially nice because I started it with a morning run (went on another one this morning, I think I'm getting addicted). Anyway, this running thing must be contagious, because yesterday afternoon as I worked in a friend's garden my thoughts started running too.
I just couldn't believe how many rocks were in the soil. The soil itself wasn't very rich, and then there were so many rocks in it that when I first saw the garden I thought it was planted in gravel rather than soil. As I hoed away at the weeds I couldn't help but think that even though the weeds were quite plentiful, the garden would fare better if I just went through and raked up all the rocks. If this was my garden, there wouldn't be this many rocks in it. I would have raked them out before I planted. As thoughts like these floated through my mind the Lord impressed an object lesson on my heart.
There are rocks in my garden. Lots of them, and often I get to busy to remove them or I don't even notice them. Distractions and idols clutter my heart, making it hard for the love of God to grow there, yet somehow allowing the weeds of sin to take root. Do I eagerly rake out the rocks so that Christ can grow in me, or do I hang on to the earthly things that I seem to love so much? I think I'm going to go rake my garden.