I love gardening. It’s so fun seeing the beauty of a flower bed or tasting the freshness of a home-grown tomato and knowing that your hard work helped make it happen. It’s fun giving away the abundance of vegetables that we could never eat or store. And what a joy to have people tell you that the beauty of your garden just brightened their day.
My gardens were not always what they are today though. When we first bought this house, the flower beds were overrun with weeds since the former owners were not gardeners. It took hours to dig up those weeds and make way for the flowers I wanted to see growing.
Then, we decide we wanted to add a vegetable garden and more flower beds. This took even more hard work and time since the new gardens required pulling out the grass and digging up many rocks. In the middle of that process I often felt like giving up. Yet, seeing the new gardens planted made it all worthwhile and made me glad we had persevered and put in the work.
Once the gardens were in place, our work was definitely not over. We had to keep the weeds and bugs in check, and make sure the gardens were well watered and fertilized. Sometimes I wondered why I bothered since the weeds were obviously much easier to grow, even though they are worth very little and cause more harm than good. Each time I saw a flower or vegetable flourishing, however, I knew that it was worth the effort.
My favorite part of gardening is the spiritual lessons God teaches me while I have my hands in the dirt. God reminds me that my life was once that weed-filled patch of soil that desperately needed the gardeners touch. He shows me that only with the care and tending of the Gardener will anything good grow. He reminds me that sin is much like those weeds that pop-up; good for nothing, invasive, and counter-productive to growing the good stuff.
God reminds me that growing good things takes a constant supply of water and nutrients from a strong root system. He reminds me that there are seasons to everything in life and that sometimes we just need to wait for the proper time for things to grow and come to fruition. He shows me that many things in this life require hard work, perseverance, diligence, and patience.
So, how is your garden doing? Are you growing a crop of weeds, or are you seeing the evidence of God’s work in your life? Are you growing in your relationship with the gardener as you yield to His work in your life? As Paul wrote to the Galatians in chapter 6, verse 7, let’s remember that we will reap what we sow. So, let the Master Gardener have His way in the garden of your life and see what He causes to grow.
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:7-9
