“Holy cow! This place is a total dump!” Lynne and I were visiting the Gulf Coast of Florida with my brother Roger and his wife Shirley about eight months after Hurricane Ian devastated the area north of Naples. While Naples had some damage, it was nothing compared to Fort Myers Beach and Bonita Springs to the north.

We were walking Cooper just before dark and had turned down a street with waterfront homes on either side that all backed up to channels coming off of the Gulf. As we walked down the street, there was little evidence that Ian had caused any damage. Manicured lawns and luxury vehicles were in abundance. That’s when we saw the “For Sale” sign. At first it appeared to be a vacant, overgrown lot until I saw the house that generated my response. Here was an overgrown dump of a home surrounded by multimillion-dollar homes, and no one was interested. The yard was filled with thick vegetation, broken trees, and the debris left by the storm surge of Ian.

It reminded me of a passage from Proverbs: “I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man” (24:30-34, ESV).

Like the field of the sluggard, the owner had slowly allowed his property to become overgrown and devalued.

As Christians, we can make the same mistake — the mistake of neglect. The author of Hebrews opens the book by making a case for the superiority of King Jesus over the law and angels. He then gives this warning: “Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard” (2:1-3).

The Greek word translated “neglect” is ameleo, defined as “to be careless, not to care” (Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words).

In time past, God spoke to the children of Israel through the prophets, “but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:2). The Greek literally reads “in Son.” Jesus is the final revelation from God in His Son who was “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature” (1:3).

How do we neglect this great salvation? By not taking it seriously. By not making it the most important thing in our life. By not tending the garden of our spiritual life on a daily basis.

In the natural world, if you do nothing in your yard or garden, the weeds take over. Fact. In your spiritual life, if you are not cultivating your spirit with a daily quiet time of Bible reading, prayer, and worship, you are letting your old man stay in control. Our desire should be to cultivate the spiritual fruit of righteousness Paul described in his Galatian Epistle: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Like any yard or garden, it requires daily cultivation. A garden left untended is quickly overgrown with weeds that choke the fruit: “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these” (Galatians 5:19-21).

Lest you think I am overstating the situation, we need to heed Paul’s final caution in our passage from Galatians: “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (5:24-25).

How do we crucify the flesh? Daily. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

Our daily morning time with the Lord allows the Holy Spirit to cultivate the soil of our heart and prepare it for the good seed the Lord desires to sow there. Jesus died so that you and I can have this abundant life. Let us not neglect such a great salvation!

What say ye, Man of Valor?