Working In Our Garden
Are We Purposely Scattering Seeds & (If So) Are Any Taking Root?
Are We Purposely Scattering Seeds Within Our Daily Lives?
& (If Not) Why Aren’t We Purposely Scattering Seeds?
Let’s set something straight (a little alliteration for this day)—I LOVE TO GARDEN!
I love to touch the soil. I love to till the ground, preparing it for the seeds. I love the feel of the earth in my hand, and I love watching the garden grow.
However (there’s always a “however”)—I DO NOT LOVE WEEDS, OR ROCKS, OR AN ACHY BACK, OR PLANT DISEASE & ATTACKING BUGS!
I do not love those weeds that come into the middle of the garden rows and close beside the plant’s stems. I do not love the rocks & rocks & rocks my garden seems to produce. I do not love the way my back hurts so badly, making even walking to the house almost impossible after I have spent a glorious afternoon digging and working in the garden. Finally, I do not love the bugs that desire the “taste” of precious vegetables even before these tender plants reach maturity.
In studying God’s Word, I find God has much to say about gardening, seeds, rocks, achy muscles, and bugs. See with me one passage found in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the believers living in Galatia (a province many scholars compare to modern-day America).
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap.
For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.
Let’s not become discouraged in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not become weary.
So then, while we have opportunity, let’s do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”
(Galatians 6: 7-10 NASB)
This week, we celebrated the inauguration of a new president at the university where I am thankful to be called to teach. During the festivities, I attended a tree planting, a ceremony marking the beginning of life, of a season, and of a future. There is so much symbolism found within this small sapling and our new university president. Both will grow, Both will change the face of the campus, Both will walk through numerous seasons of change, & Both will find their time completed, when another will come after them. Let me pause to say that I have committed to pray for our new president and the daily tasks that he faces.
While standing there on Stapp Lawn, listening to student-led comments about the purpose of the tree-planting, we were each handed a package of seed. Immediately upon receiving my package, I turned it over to see what seed I had received: Wildflowers.
Are we not all “wild” “flowers” scattered across the face of the earth?!
Are we not all “wildflowers” who are in desperate need of a good soil in which to grow?!
Are we not all wild “flowers” who are planted, who grow and flourish, & who wither and die after a season?!
Today, let us focus upon those of us who have been “found,” who have been “changed by the Master Gardener,” and who are now the “children of Jehovah God.” I wonder:
Are We Purposely Scattering Seeds & (If So) Are Any Taking Root?
Are We Purposely Scattering Seeds Within Our Daily Lives?
The Bible is so clear!
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap.”
The Bible speaks with authority!
“For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.”
God knows our weaknesses; He created us!
“Let’s not become discouraged in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not become weary.”
God knows discouragement; He sent His Son Jesus to bring salvation to the world!
“So then, while we have opportunity, let’s do good to all people, . . .”
And God knows we who believe, who have accepted God’s call need one another, that’s why He reminds us within His Word to assemble together!
“let’s do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”
IN THE GARDEN WHERE GOD HAS PLACED US, WE CAN WITNESS WHEN
- Those weeds come into the middle of the garden rows and close beside the plant’s stems.
- The rocks & rocks & rocks come, the ones our garden seems to produce.
- Our back hurts so badly, making even walking to the house almost impossible after we have spent a glorious afternoon digging and working in the garden. & EVEN WHEN,
- The bugs desire a “taste” of precious vegetables even before these tender plants reach maturity.
YES, WE CAN WITNESS IN THE GARDEN WHERE GOD HAS PLACED US!
NOT ONLY CAN WE WITNESS, BUT WE CAN ALSO ENCOURAGE OTHER BELIEVERS BECAUSE
- We will walk through numerous seasons of change throughout our lives.
- We will find that when our time on earth has been completed, then another witness will come after us.
- God has given us packages of “seeds” to scatter across the face of the earth.
- Seed who are in desperate need of a good soil in which to grow. & Lost Seeds
- Who may not become planted, who cannot grow and who will never flourish, BUT who wither and die after a season of living here on earth.
YES, WE CAN WORK IN THE GARDEN WHERE GOD HAS PLACED US & TEND THE SEEDS HE HAS GIVEN US TO SCATTER!
Are We Purposely Scattering Seeds & (If So) Are Any Taking Root?
Are We Purposely Scattering Seeds Within Our Daily Lives?
& (If Not) Why Aren’t We Purposely Scattering Seeds?
In closing, it is so important to look past the external and see the “identity” of every person we meet. It is vitally important that we seek: Is this person SAVED or LOST to God? It is a necessity that we SAY, DO, & LEAD the person to SEE JESUS in everything we SAY & DO! It is life and death: When we look past the external & begin to share Jesus, we begin to engage in REAL CONVERSATION! When we “pour” into people for the sake of Jesus, we begin to scatter the seeds God has given to us. When we refuse to quit, to become lazy, & when we stubbornly pull the weeds that always tend to come into our garden, then we make a HUGE ETERNAL DIFFERENCE!
The Apostle Paul knew just what the Galatians needed to hear, and today, I believe it is exactly what the Americans need to hear, especially me!
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap.
For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.
Let’s not become discouraged in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not become weary.
So then, while we have opportunity, let’s do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”
(Galatians 6: 7-10 NASB)