THE GARDEN

Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.  Mark 4:8

In the spring, my dad would plow the ground, plant the seed, water the seed, and grow a beautiful garden of vegetables. Sometimes, my little brother and I were given the job to pull weeds, and sometimes dad pulled the weeds. Dad would tend to this garden all summer, plowing, watering, and pulling out dead stems. His garden would produce beautiful plants of squash, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, corn, green beans, bell peppers, and asparagus.

My brother and I would sometimes pick a red tomato, warm from the sun, wipe it on our shirt to clean it, and take a bite, salting a little between each bite. The juice would run down our shirts, and we were in bliss. Mom would take the vegetables and make beautiful summer salads. She also would can the tomatoes and the green beans for us to have special treats in the winter months.

Oh how I loved those fresh vegetables. My mouth waters just thinking of it. God is the ultimate gardener. He was the creator of the first garden, called Eden. It was the perfect garden, but woman and man sinned, causing a divide between God and themselves.

God did pave the way for communion with Him, by sending His son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for our sins. Now because of this we have direct contact with God the Gardener.  But the garden mentioned in Mark 4:3-8 is speaking of the seeds of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We, who are Christians, plant our seeds by spreading the message and showing the love of Christ. We don’t know if our work will come to fruition in the lives of all people, but we can be sure that we are doing the work, Christ calls us to do.

Some of our words fall on deaf ears. Some of our words are received with gladness, but the cares of the world choke out their would-be faith. Some receive the word, but never do anything about it. Their walk has no roots, and soon the message is forgotten. Yet some do receive the word, apply it to their lives, and they grow to also spread the message.

We need to ask ourselves, “What does my garden look like? Are the weeds choking it out? Does it need to be watered so the roots will be established? Could it use a little plowings and pruning? Does it produce a harvest of plenty?”

If we desire the next generation to enjoy the same beautiful garden of abundance that Jesus has endowed to us, then we need to tend to our garden with diligence. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to water, weed, plow and prune us into the likeness of Christ. As a result, we are able to bless others with our crop of goodness, out of His love for us. Bid all to come to His table. There is always room for one more.

Oh Lord, Thank you for sending us your Son so that we could have fellowship with you. Help us to spread that message to the world. In Christ’s name, Amen