Tend the Garden That Feeds You

Proverbs 27:18“Tend an orchard and you’ll have fruit to eat. Serve the Master’s interests and you’ll receive honor that’s sweet.”Last Thursday morning, I woke up with a phrase in my spirit:CULTIVATE HEALTHY OBSESSIONS.Whew! That’ll preach!Because every one of us is already cultivating something.To see what you’re cultivating, look at the fruit—or “the outcomes” that keep showing up in your life.If repetition is like planting a seed…what are you planting over and over?If access is like sunlight…what are you continually exposing yourself to?If attention is like water…where are you pouring it?Whatever keeps receiving your attention is already growing in the garden of your soul.Keep tending resentment, outrage, distraction, comparison or escape, and that fruit will keep showing up on your table.Let me share an uncomfortable truth: everybody is obsessed with something.An obsession is anything that repeatedly captures your attention, pulls you in and keeps inviting you back.Obsessions are sneaky. Even lesser obsessions will still grab you. Engulf you. Keep you stuck—and make themselves your normal diet.Proverbs 27:18 in The Passion Translation says:“Tend an orchard and you’ll have fruit to eat.”That word ‘fruit’ tells the truth about what you’ve been tending.And in case you don’t believe me, remember the Master said, “They will be known by their…that’s right: their ‘fruit’.”We’re all eating something. Or let me say it like this, “We’re all living inside the outcomes of whatever we consistently cultivate.”The question isn’t whether you have a garden. It’s whether you’ve begun to recognize what’s already growing inside your garden.Although I’m using obsession poetically—I don’t want to be insensitive by romanticizing OCD, addictions or destructive compulsions. I’m talking about identifying a devoted fascination with something that makes you freer, more loving and more alive.Become fascinated with how prayer centers you.With why moving your body always changes your emotional state.With the mystery of loving your family well.With the majesty mastering your craft.With the hallowed opportunities to heal what’s hurt you.And with the sacred moments of serving somebody who can’t repay you.Cultivate those things that draw you toward the person God is calling you to become.And remember: tending also means pruning.You can’t cultivate a healthy obsession while giving unlimited access to everything that keeps draining the soil.Turn off some notifications.Change a routine.Move temptation out of easy reach.Put what gives you life where you can reach it easily.If you want to stay stuck, keep cultivating the obsessions that keep you small.But if you want different fruit, don’t merely curse the old garden.Plant differently.Water differently.Return differently.Tend the garden that feeds you.🔥 REMEMBERYour attention is water. What you keep watering will eventually feed you—or starve you.🙏🏽 PRAYERGod, teach me to cultivate what makes my life fruitful.🎯 TODAY’S CHALLENGEWrite down one life-giving fascination you want to cultivate and one lesser obsession whose access you’ll reduce. Give the healthy one five intentional minutes today.About the AuthorFred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch📱 Experience Proverbs Daily by Subscribing!Ready to receive daily wisdom directly on your phone?Go to proverbsdaily.org for the app or just click that Subscribe button right now! Get full access to Hey Fred Lynch! at heyfredlynch.substack.com/subscribe