It’s Spring and gardening has begun. I love the act of putting seeds in soil and watching God grow amazing things. I was looking at the plants and thinking about them and how each is unique when it struck me that plants and gardening can teach us a lot about people.
When we first plant our seeds we are so excited to check on them. We want to water them, take out any weeds that try to sneak into our planters, and sometimes we even feed them with Miracle Grow or some other fertilizer. When the garden is new, we cultivate the soil, we lovingly tend out plants and most gardeners like to talk about gardening. We want to tell othersabout what we are growing, ask what you are growing, and share tips and tricks of the trade. Likewise, when we become Christians, we begin to tend out relationship with the Lord. We feed and water our souls with prayer and Bible study, we try to pluck those weedy sins from our lives. We want to share what God is doing in our lives with others and we want to hear what he is doing for them as well.
1Peter 3:13
Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?
As we tend our garden the seasons change. You know it gets really hot in Texas and some years rainfall is abundant. Other years, you have to drag the water hose around and water your garden daily or it will wither and die. The hotter it gets, the more time and effort it seems to take. And the weeds don’t seem to mind the drought. They keep thriving all the while. If that isn’t a metaphor for life, I don’t know what is. When weeds abound and a spiritual drought seems to grip us, we need to spend even more time cultivating out relationship with God. We should dig into our Bible like never before to remind ourselves of God’s truths. We need to sit with Him and water our souls in His presence. We should keep plucking away at the weeds, growing each day to be more like Jesus our Savior and as we spend time with God, the fragrance of the Father will rub off and cling to us like the most fragrant flowers.
Psalm 63: 1-3
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
A thriving garden is so exciting. We love to pick the fruit and veggies we’ve planted. Isn’t harvesting your crops the most fun?! My fellow growers know what I’m talking about. After the time and effort spent on your crops, it is thrilling enjoy the fruits of your labor. We like to pick the tomatoes and peppers, squash and cucumbers. We feast on them all season long. Where I live, we are in Zone 9, I think, and we have a pretty long growing season, and certain plants thrive here that may not do well in other locations. Luckily, God’s growing zone is infinite, and you are never out of season with the Lord. He can transform hearts all year round. In every situation you find yourself, the good seasons, the painful seasons, they are all used by God to grow us closer to Him and to make us more like Him. Sometimes the cultivation doesn’t feel nice, but it helps us bear pleasing fruit for God. So don’t give up when the weather turns bad or the work seems hard. Keep going. The greatest gardener, God, never leaves you on your own.
Galatians 5: 22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
There is one thing that has to happen for you to thrive in God’s Garden. You have to plant the seed of your heart in Him. Those who may read this who don’t know Jesus as their Savior, please listen. God can grow glorious things in your life, even among the weeds and drought and floods life can bring, but first you must trust in Jesus. God is holy. He is perfect and sinless, but we people are sinful. That creates a huge problem. You see, God cannot be with us in our sin, so we are cut off from Him now on Earth and for an eternity in a real place called Hell. But God loves us so much that he sent his one and only son Jesus to die in our place, on the cross we deserve, so that we can be reunited with God through the sacrifice of His son. So now, all who trust Jesus to be their Savior and ask Him to be the boss of their life will live forever with God. He gives you the choice. Please invite Him to be your Savior.
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Go plant a garden if you haven’t yet. It is good for your mind, and body, and soul. Every time you look at your garden and examine it for what it needs to thrive, take a second to examine your life and see if you are getting the things you need to thrive. Don’t worry, none of us are perfect, but when you nourish your soul like you should, the greatness of God is made manifest. How pleased must he be, our God and gardener, when he sees a lovely harvest in us.
Rays of Sunshine inc 