Preparing Your Soil (Pt 1)

God is always scattering 'seed' in your life and in the lives of others. For the seed to grow in your garden, your heart must be prepared to receive that word which is sown. Good soil is soil that is able to accept the seed and provide an environment in which the seed can properly grow. Good soil in your heart means that you hear the word of God, understand it (Matthew 13:23), and accept it (Mark 4:20). When your heart is prepared to accept the seed, the crop which God desires to bring forth in your life can be cultivated. There are many things that try to prevent the seed from growing in your life. But the first step to having good soil is a willingness to listen and a desire to understand.

Digging deeper: Read Proverbs 2.

Your Garden’s Design (Pt 3)

Micah 6:8 says “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Beyond loving God and others, God desires for you to walk humbly with Him. Doing anything humbly is so counter culture. Humility is the defining characteristic of an unpretentious and modest person, someone who does not think that he or she is better or more important than others.[1] Walking humbly with God means that we constantly keep in mind that He is sovereign, that He is in control, and that He has authority over us.

Digging deeper: Read Philippians 2:3-11 and meditate on how your attitude could be more like Christ.

[1] Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humility, accessed 4/7/09.

Your Garden’s Design (Pt 2)

When you seek God as your number one priority, He will direct you concerning your other priorities. Jesus said the second [most important commandment] is to love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:31) The second priority of our design is to love others. Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:11) One way we love other people is by considering others better than ourselves. (Philippians 2:3) That’s hard! “Everyday our culture urges us to think about ourselves and satisfy our personal desires. To love others means that instead of always thinking about yourself, you are conscious of the needs of others and have a willingness to help provide for those needs.”[1]

Digging deeper: Read Romans 12:10-16 and consider ways to love others.

[1] Virginia Estes, Simplicity: Spiritual choices that bring fullness to life. (Cleveland TN: First Baptist Church, 2008), 15.

Your Garden’s Design (Pt 1)

The design of a garden is based on many factors, like climate, rainfall, soil content, and sunlight as well as the desire of the gardener. For your garden to produce the abundant harvest God has desired, you need to know what seeds He’s planted in you. Let’s begin by looking at God’s number one priority for your life. God’s reason for creating humans is for relationship with Him, so His desire is for that relationship to be our number one priority. Jesus, God’s Son, told us that the most important commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) That’s pretty much all of who we are. If we “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness,” then God will provide everything else we need. (Matthew 6:33) So, the key to being who God wants you to be is loving and seeking Him above all else. Make Him your #1 priority.

Digging deeper: Read Psalm 103 and ponder all the things God does for you.

Considering Your Garden’s Purpose (Pt 2)

It’s not like you can just look in a book or make a phone call to find out your purpose in life. It is something you must discover. Some people spend a lifetime searching for purpose or significance. The wisest man who has ever lived spent most of his life searching for meaning. Ecclesiastes tells us that Solomon sought meaning in wisdom (chapter 1), pleasures, folly and toil (chapter 2), advancement (chapter 4), and riches (chapter 5). Solomon’s search for purpose in these earthly things ended with the assertion that “Everything is meaningless!” (Eccl. 12:8) His final conclusion was that we should “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Eccl. 12:13) Our purpose can be found as we follow God. Do you sense meaninglessness in any areas of your life? Ask God for wisdom and direction as you find your purpose in Him.

Digging deeper: Read Ecclesiastes and consider whether you are looking for meaning in places that lead to meaninglessness.

Considering Your Garden’s Purpose (Pt 1)

For your garden to be all it’s intended to be, you need to know what your purpose is. Some gardens produce fruits or vegetables; some are for producing cut flowers. Others may be for adding color to your yard; still others cater to bird and butterflies. Haven’t we all asked at one time or another “What’s my purpose in life?” or “Why am I here?” Key to finding out God’s desired purpose for you is to be in tune with Him. How to do that will be the topic of many future posts. But, once you begin to be in tune with the Gardener, you can hear His direction for you. “This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.’” Isaiah 48:17.

Digging Deeper: Meditate on Isaiah 48:17, Isaiah 58:11, and Psalm 32:8.

The Ways of the Gardener

There is a difference between knowing Who the Gardener is and letting Him tend to your garden. God may want to do in your life something you think is very radical or crazy or wrong. “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8). God’s ways are just (Deuteronomy 32:4) and holy (Psalm 77:13) and righteous (Psalm 145:17); His ways are loving and faithful for those who follow Him (Psalm 25:10). His works are perfect (Deuteronomy 32:4). God is good and upright (Psalm 25:8), gracious and compassionate (Psalm 145:8), faithful to all His promises (Psalm 145:13). If you let God tend to your garden (that is do what He desires in your life) He may prune some trees or transplant some things or pull some very deep-seated weeds. Will it be painful at times? Yes! But, as Mr. Beaver says in The Chronicles of Narnia, “ ‘Course he isn’t safe. But, he’s good.”[1] God is good and if you allow Him full access to all that you are and all that you do, the results will be glorious. Are you willing to let Him do what He knows is best for your garden?

Digging Deeper: Meditate on Isaiah 55:6-11.

[1] C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1950), 80.

Knowing the Gardener

Think of your life as a garden. You have a variety of plants, a certain soil type and sources of water and nutrients. For your garden to be all it’s intended to be, it’s important for you to acknowledge who the real gardener is. Did you decide what type of soil you have (personal characteristics and personality), what plants or flowers grow in your garden (skills, talents, and interests), or what your harvest is used for (experiences)?

Do you believe there is some sort of “prime mover” as Aristotle and Aquinas have argued[1] or an intelligent design behind the universe? Do you believe there is a God? If you believe there is a God, the next question is, “Am I God?” If there is a God and you are not He, do you believe that God is involved in your daily life?

God created you and knows you (Psalm 139). He desires for you to prosper as you trust in Him (Proverbs 28:25b). Will you let God be your Gardener? Will you let Him design, plant, prune, and weed as He so desires? The first step is acknowledging His sovereignty and His love for you.

Digging deeper: If you’d like to dig deeper, read Isaiah 40 and Psalm 145:17-21 and meditate on all they have to say about God.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_argument