For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:8).

There are these two rose bushes in my front yard.  They are planted about fifteen feet apart, and they grow up and across this lattice to meet over my front door.  In theory, they produce beautiful white blossoms that grace the entrance to our home and delight the eye of all who visit.

In theory.

In actual practice, the plants have been sickly for years, producing anemic little brownish blobs that serve well to scare away salesmen, missionaries, and the “If you buy ten magazines, I can win a trip to Nebraska” crew.  I’ve watered, fed, sprayed, snipped, talked to and threatened these plants, but to no avail.  Soon, these plants are headed for the green waste bin, because they are wasting my time.

I hate wasting time.  You see, I’m inherently lazy, so if I’m going to get off my backside and do something, I want it to count.  That goes for my garden.

That goes for my spiritual life.

Serving God isn’t easy.  Prayer, study, service—they all take time and energy.  If I’m going to do this, I certainly don’t want to find that I have been “ineffective and unproductive.”  So I’m going to take Peter’s advice and continue to develop, as best as I can, the qualities we talked about last week—faith, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, and the rest.  I want the spiritual fruit—or flowers, to keep the analogy straight—that I produce to draw people in, not scare them away.

Grab your shovel and gloves, friend—it’s time to get to work.