Tending the Garden
Matthew 7:15-20(ESV)15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
In all my many and varied interests I can honestly say that gardening is not one that I can add to my credit. My mother, my granny and my sister could grow roses in the desert and I well....
When we were first married I tried my hand a few house plants. I ALWAYS killed them. Either I watered them too much or not enough, etc. I never could strike the balance to keep the darn things alive. On one occasion Harold had the sense to go to the florist and buy a calla-lily for me in my favorite shade of pink letting them know in advance of my many black thumb issues. He purchased the calla-lily with a money back guarantee. You see the plant was entirely artificial and I can say that it looks as good today as it did then.
I said all that to say this. This year we decided after many failed attempts in our front garden bed to plant a small garden of vegetables and herbs. We were a bit over zealous I would say because I do believe that we far out planted the space but it is the only fertile soil we have so we wanted to make the best of it. We have now planted cabbage, tomatoes and blueberries and a peony in pots, jalapenos, cucumbers, watermelon, strawberries, chives & rosemary in a very small space. Needless to say that we have had some overgrowth out into the yard.
As happy as the thought of a garden has made me I have had little time to tend to it. I have barely had the time to water it, or rather to ask Harold to if we are honest. We had been blessed with God watering it with the little showers most of the summer. But a couple of week's ago while the children were quiet and Harold was off to work on a lawn I had time early in the morning to tend to my garden on my own. There was a slight breeze blowing and the chimes tinkled in the backdrop of a beautiful sunny morning. I donned my gloves and began weeding. Now as a beginning gardener I am to understand that weeding is important by taking useless plants away that zap the nutrients in the soil of the plants that you are trying diligently to grow. Weeding is no easy job and it can be very tiresome, for to do it right you must pull each outgrowth of weed up entirely by its root. Just taking away the part that is visible leaves the root there to grow back in just a short matter of time. But as you move away the clutter that the weeds create you will begin to see the fruits of all of the labor that you have put in. Finally I was able to see the fruits of some of the plants we had been waiting to see results from. However, it also let me see some of the fruits that had been lost in the soil due to my negligence. At this moment God spoke mightily into my spirit and said, "how many of my good fruits have been lost due to lack of tending?" This struck me deep as I wondered not only how many good things that I let slip by because I was not in tune with God's will or how many times that my negligence caused others to falter.
You see each thing that we plant in our garden of our lives will take up space. It will zap our energy, our time, and sometimes even our good moods. We need to be sure what we are planting in our lives is not only worthy of our fertile soil but will in turn be fruitful. And we must be ever on the lookout for the weeds that invade there. This could be sitting on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or even Pinterest allowing it to zap hours of your lives that you could be investing to help your neighbor weed their garden or get to know them or their needs better, as just one example. The thing about weeds is that they are very deceptive. I actually have several plants that are "weeds" in my garden that may appear pretty or may not even be a bad plant but they are deemed weeds because I did not plant them in my garden and they therefore have no purpose there. You see weeds can be many things; they can be friends that you allow to take up space in your life that do not encourage you to walk closely with the Lord, we aren't even talking about "sinners" we are talking about the people that sit beside you on the pew every Sunday but do not spur you on to a closer relationship with the Lord. It could be any use of your time that is not sinful but quite honestly when you analyze it most certainly is not fruitful.
God is the master gardener and he is teaching us slowly through His spirit to have discernment, to walk in this gift and purge our garden of the things that unwittingly zap us. God did not want us to be distracted or even encouraged by these things to spend time away from him. This is where it gets sensitive because God also calls those that are in leadership to tend their gardens well. If you are a pastor, lay pastor or serve in a lay ministry at your church it is your responsibility to put your relationship with the Lord first. Too many feel that ministry is more important and this is not so. You see a garden that feeds your family serves a purpose but when your garden is so well tended that it can feed a community that is when you know that you are doing something right.
To practice discernment you must have knowledge and the knowledge of God's person is received through His word. It holds all the answers. The more time you spend there the more readily you will be able to tell the difference between a weed and a chive. God's word says that you shall know them by their fruits. You will begin to see the characteristics of God in others because you will know Him personally. Sacrificial giving of time is hard and sometimes it is painful.
Weeding my garden had me down on my knees for most of the morning and my muscles ached from use and I received a blister for my trouble! But when pain comes fear not. Blisters are made from performing an act which causes friction and is hard on the skin and underlying surface. Weeding may cause you temporary pain but it does not mean that the act is not righteous. Sacrifice brings reward! God sees your sacrifice so keep on working. And remember that you are responsible for watering, God is gracious and sends those to love and care for you, like your Pastoral staff on Sundays, just as He sends the rain but that garden's ability to thrive is based solely on what you put in and quite possibly a lot more time on your knees.