HoW DoeS YouR GarDEn GroW?

Listen to the so-called gardening experts and you will see everything from some kind of super organic seed to high powered dirt with steroids in it to fresh dung. I won't say these things are not successful but I have a small garden that has yielded incredible results. I tried some of the off the wall ideas such as putting old bread, cutting off the roots of vegetables and planting them and some other "new age" ideas. What my wife and I have discovered is that some good old fashioned soil, sunlight, and a lot of water has yielded amazing results as shown in the picture below. 

I am not saying that these results could not have been better and brighter but I can say that my family is very satisfied with the taste of our salads and we are highly satisfied with our grocery bill.

If you thought this blog was going to be about lettuce and Cherry tomatoes, then you clearly don't know me well enough to know better. 

I believe that it is not accidental and by specific design and detail that many passages in your Bible speak to agriculture. As a matter of fact, it is literally one of the scripture's strongest and most recurring themes. Why do you think that is?

Do you think it's because the Author wants to emphasize the idea that everything begins as a seed and it, if not properly treated, will not grow to its fullest capacity? Is it perhaps that everything in this life follows the same process and requires a healthy dose of sunlight, soil, and water to produce fruits? Is it indicative of a formula for God's view of a successful life? It could be any of the above or perhaps none. But what I do know is that the abundant (that picture above was merely an eight of what comes out of our garden on a weekly basis) crop of vegetables that we yielded was possible because of consistency, a persistent effort, loving care, and learning from our early mistakes. 

The garden of our lives can often resemble the examples from the Parable of the Sower in Matthew chapter 13. Some seeds are eaten by birds because they were scattered in unfruitful places. Some seeds are burnt by the sun because they were not planted deep enough. Some seeds are choked out by thorns. Some seeds will produce a hundredfold return. Those "seeds" would never be ignored by the "farmer" who understands that his livelihood relies on how and where his seeds are planted. That "farmer" potentially cannot feed his family if careless mistakes are made. The fool will say "Well, I'm not a farmer so this doesn't apply to me." But this does apply to you because you plant seed and you water seed and what grows is a direct result of what you put effort into. I think those agricultural examples in the Word are more appropriate and life-changing than we first thought. 

What seeds are you planting in your local ministry? What seeds are you watering in your household and community? Have you taken consideration to where they are being planted? Is the ground fallow or fervent? Are you giving your seeds enough SON-light to survive? Does your attitude reflect a FAITH-full seed or is there weeds at the core of our behavior? 

How does your garden grow? Might be time to start inspecting what we have planted with a genuine evaluation of our life up to now. It's certainly possible that we have not tended to the garden God has blessed us with as well as we could have.