Gardeners are amazing! They keep watch over their plants and over everything in their garden to make sure that it is in order and working right. One thing that they are very careful to watch out for is if anything is dead. They’re checking to see if there’s any brown leaves on any of their plants. If there’s brown leaves, that means something has died. When they see that something has died, they trim it off.
In your life are there any brown leaves? Are there any places that aren’t bearing fruit the way that they should be?
Proverbs 29:18a “Where there is no vision, the people perish”
This passage of scripture states clearly why there might be death in some of the things you are doing.
Let me illustrate.
I love playing guitar. I’ve written several songs and recorded a few CDs. I love playing at parties and in front of people and at church. My wife especially loves my playing. She wants me to go back out and play in the restaurants like I used to, just because she knows how much it blesses people.
But I have so much on my plate. It’s very difficult to choose what I’m supposed to keep my eyes on. I am the pastor of a church, I run Joseph Barlow Ministries, we have 7 children, we have a home group on Wednesday nights, we have healing class on Saturday morning. We are trying to manage a very busy schedule and there is a lot going on. Rest is sometimes something that you have to steal; at least it seems like that.
So what about the guitar playing? My guitar has been sitting in its case.
I haven’t played it in a little while. It feels like a brown leaf sometimes. I want to write songs I want to go back into the studio. But I’m letting too much get in the way of that.
What is happening?
I am letting the vision dissipate. I’m letting it lose its appeal in my heart. Sometimes you have to stir yourself back up. You have to stir up the vision. When you stir up the vision, the desire gets stronger. You have to imagine what it would be like if your desires were coming to pass right now. Is that something worth working for? Maybe!
You, like me, need to make some decisions. We better decide what are the visions we want to keep in place in our life that will motivate our actions and drive our plans forward. So list the things you want to do. Then list the things you have to do. How well do those two lists intersect? It’s time to start trimming. It’s time to reestablish vision. If we don’t do the trimming then disappointment and the clock will do it for us.
Let’s make the main thing the main thing.
But, for you, what is the main thing?
What is it you were sent here for?
Are you doing it?
Joseph Barlow 