Today I spent some time out tilling and planting seeds in my garden. My garden is not big nor fancy. It's about 10 feet by 20 feet on the side of our back yard. I have a clematis that creeps over the fence. I always plant sunflower seeds so I did dutifully, hoping the squirrels don't find thembefore they sprout. I will add some tomatoes and some hollyhock seeds soon.
I am certainly no master gardener, but gardening is a therapy for me. I'm sure my garden would never make a magazine cover. I believe it is good for every person to plant, tend and enjoy watching something grow. Adam and Eve were placed in a garden. It was God's first home for man. God didn't place us in air-conditioned boxes. That came after the curse. God wants us to deal with the earth, touch it, protect it, and enjoy the fruits of our labor.
How does even a small amount of gardening help us look heavenward?
Here are my top-ten ways:
1) Weeds, bugs, thistles remind us that we live in a cursed world. It reminds us of Adam's curse that work would now be hard, by the "sweat of our brow".
2) Gardening helps us WAIT. Seeds take time to germinate. We can't yell at them and speed up things. It reminds us to take life one day at a time.
3) Gardening involves SEEDS. God calls his Word a seed. ("the seed is the word of God" Luke 8:11.) The Holy Spirit is called a seed ("You have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.) Jesus said, "if a seed does not go in the ground and die, it cannot bear fruit". The parable of the sower and the seed shows us that not all that hear God's message will respond.
4) Gardening keeps us out of the house and out in the fresh air.
5) Gardening keeps us watching for good things to come. When I planted the sunflower seeds, I imagine how tall and bright they will be as flowers. When that day comes, I rejoice! Gardening forces us to HOPE.
6) Gardening shows us that bad things happen to good people. One year I planted pumpkins. I had beautiful green vines, large leaves, the start of pumpkins. Then literally, one morning I awoke and the vine was dead. A worm had burrowed into the vine and killed it (Like Jonah as he overlooked Ninevah!). I was so sad that my hard work was spoiled. It would be another year before I could try again.
7) Gardening keeps us reminded that all life, all goodness, all beauty belongs to God. We can plant the seeds and water them, but only God provides the sunshine and ultimate growth.
8) As we prune our flowers (called dead-heading) we are reminded that God prunes our lives to produce more fruit.
9) Gardening reminds us that all things are temporal. All things have their course and then they die. 'All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord abides forever.'
10) Gardening cannot be done long-distance. As we hunch over the flowers, touching them, cutting the fruit, carefully inspecting for worms or bugs, we are reminded that God loves and cares for us "closely", not at a distance. He is the Master Gardener in all parts of our life.
Yes, everyone should grow something. Whether it is a small plot of land, a window box, a simple pot in the window, or a box of dirt on the porch. God wants to encourage you and teach you through gardening. Get out and get growing.
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