Keep out of my garden, bunnies!

Gardening, like life, carries with it some real challenges. We’ve been fighting with the bunnies all year. Usually the cats and the dog keep them at bay, but since we gave away our overabundance of barn cats last year and the dog is getting old, the rabbits seem to be taking over the place. It all came to a head last week. I was away on a ministry trip and received a call from Susan. “The rabbits ate my zinnias and almost wiped out the beet greens,” she said with exasperation.

Now I wasn’t too worried about the zinnias (Don’t tell Susan!), but the beet greens, that’s another matter. Beet greens are one of our main summer vegetables. Susan even freezes them and we eat the nutritious greens throughout the winter. We raise beets for the greens, not for the red roots, because these nutritious tops when steamed, taste like spinach, but are much higher in vitamins and minerals. Apparently, the bunnies think they’re pretty good too!

Well, I was tired from a seven hour road trip home on Sunday afternoon and evening, but on Monday the priority had to be stopping those cute little creatures from devouring our fine crops in the backyard garden. The backyard was partially enclosed, but the fence was down in several places due to projects along the borders. A huge locust tree trunk lie across the fence line.

The removal of the locust tree proved to be a big project, involving a chain saw which was pinched several times, a tractor, and finally our 4-wheel drive pickup and a chain. After two or three hours, and some blood, sweat and…well…no tears, the tree was removed to make way for the reconstruction of the fence. It took some effort to get that fence up around our backyard, but the good news is that the next day we had no bunnies in the backyard…which brings me to the point of the message, “Don’t let the devil eat your lunch!”

You see, we could have just let those bunnies have their way in the backyard, eating our nutritious vegetables to their heart’s content, but no, those succulent healthful treats belong to us, not to them. Let them find their own hearty meals elsewhere. Similarly, we must protect the precious crops in our life from the devil and demon powers which would like to invade our territory and rob us all the good things that God has given us. Just like those bunnies, Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy in our lives.

Ever since the garden of Eden, Satan has been attempting to invade our territory and sell us a bill of goods from his gruesome, disgusting inventory. He comes bringing frustration, anger, fear, intimidation, temptation to sin, condemnation, depression and defeat. He uses the tongues of others, gossip, lies, intimidation, the news media, pop culture, and many other things to do his dirty work.

The Bible tells us that God “took man and put him in the garden to till it and guard it.” (Gen. 2:15, Darby) This was Adam’s assignment in life, to till the garden and to protect it. This likewise is our assignment. Adam failed at the one thing that God asked him to do. He allowed the enemy access to his garden. The devil came in the form of a serpent, who tempted Eve, thus causing both Adam and Eve to sin and rebel against their Creator. Because of this, Satan ate Adam’s lunch, bringing spiritual death, a curse, and untold suffering upon him and the whole human race.

But God in His mercy made a way of escape from this mess by sending His Son. Jesus died on a cross at Calvary 2,000 years ago so we could find restoration, reconciliation, healing, and deliverance. He was buried and rose from the dead to give us victory, to restore our dominion and to enable us to cleanse our garden of unwanted pests.

The garden we speak of here is our heart, which we are now called to till and to guard. The Scripture says it this way, “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23, NKJV. This is a garden that is well worth protecting. Build a strong fence and set up a sentry, because this is the place from which you derive your sustenance for life. This is the place where good things are produced that give significance, health, prosperity, and destiny. Out of this garden spring the issues of life. This is the wellspring of those things that come from the throne of God to us. Everything that comes to us, must come to us by faith, and it comes to us through our hearts. But if our hearts are invaded by anxious and corrupt thoughts, such as lust, greed, fear, anger, and jealousy, then the good crops growing from the seeds which have been planted there will be destroyed.

The produce of our inward garden is not only essential for our own well being, but also for the needs of those around us. Through our fruitful gardens, we can become truck farmers for Jesus, sharing our healthy produce of life with those around us. In this way, we can fulfill our true destiny, sharing Jesus with a lost, needy and dying world.