removing good for best

Sometimes we have to take perfectly good things out of our lives in order to do and enjoy what is best. 

This morning I was out in my garden pruning the lavender and roses. The lavender and roses while beautiful were beginning to get leggy and spindly looking. The flowers were still fragrant and perfect....they were good.....but they also were taking a lot of energy from the plant sending it out in all different directions. Soon if not pruned they would have turned brown at the bottom near the roots devoid of any more life. Having expended their energy on the one or two quick blooms. However if I prune the still good and beautiful flowers I help the plant become and stay, full and lush, with a steady flow of flowers for a long season. It felt a little sad to cut off all these still beautiful flowers.

My garden helps me understand why God prunes our lives, and why we too must prune even some of the good things out of our lives in order to make room for what is best. There are many things that are good in life that can actually keep me from God's best. Distracting and draining my energy from living in HIS fullness and HIS purposes.  

So today I am thinking about how to prune my life, even of some of the good things in order to make room/time for the best.