“I went by the field of the lazy [man], And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; 31 And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down. 32 When I saw [it,] I considered [it] well; I looked on [it and] received instruction: 33 A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest; 34 So shall your poverty come [like] a prowler, And your need like an armed man.” Proverbs 24:30-34
The description of the field in this Proverbs described the condition of the man who owned it. What happened? There’s probably a combination of things that caused the owner of the field to stop tending to the vineyard and maintaining the stone walls of protection. I’m certain, however, that this dilapidated condition didn’t happen overnight, and I’m also certain that the vineyard and field were not always like that. Maintaining your spiritual life and walk with God is so much more critical than keeping up with your field. There are many who live in beautiful homes on the outside, but their lives and spiritual life is dilapidated, overgrown, and ugly.
There is a lot of upkeep and maintenance to your spiritual life. It should be like a well-kept vineyard that produces an abundance of fruit, but there are weeds and thorns that must be removed. You cannot allow the walls of protection around your spiritual life to crumble and fall over. You have to know that keeping up with your own spiritual life so that it produces fruit is your responsibility.
I know the things that are of great value to me are tended to constantly and what has little value to me is not. I spent some time recently one afternoon trimming back some crepe myrtles in my backyard. It really wasn’t what I wanted to do, and it wasn’t necessarily any fun, but it was necessary if I wanted my backyard to be a pleasant place to be. If you live in a home owners association, you are required to maintain some standard for your house and yard, but your spiritual life does not have this kind of strict oversight. No one can do the upkeep in your spiritual life but you, so be encouraged today to do those things necessary to maintain the kind of fruit-producing life that pleases God.