A man was going on holiday and wanted someone to look after his garden while he was away. He placed an advert, and out of many candidates narrowed it down to two people.

He couldn't decide between them on paper, so he thought he would give each one a day’s trial and agreed to cover all their expenses in addition to the fee for a day’s work.

The first gardener came for the days trial. He told the owner that he always does an efficient job and keeps the gardens he looks after, weed free and tidy. Indeed during the trial he was always on the alert for weeds and pulled them up wherever he found them.

The second gardener came for his trial the next day, and immediately his face lit up with glee. "Oh I can see so many possibilities here sir, just leave this to me " He went out and came back with bedding plants, shrubs, a couple of vegetable plants and even a small tree.

He transformed the garden into a blaze of colour and brought a big smile to the owners face. He never mentioned weeds once but actually, in that garden now there was scarcely room for a weed to grow.

Who do you think got the job?

Whilst it is important to avoid situations that lead us to be vulnerable to temptations, sometimes we get too obsessed by it.

It’s easy to forget that Christ repeatedly told us that our prime duty is to go out with confidence and joy to build Gods kingdom on earth and make it better than it was.

By Mike Spellman.