By: Stephen Davis
In today’s urban culture, losing connectivity with our spiritual garden is easy. We may talk about our walk with Christ or personal relationship with God, but have we forgotten to tend our spiritual garden? I know for me, it is easy to do. The more overgrown my spiritual garden is, the harder it is for me to want to tend it.
Let me explain a little bit. For me, this fantastic story starts with creation. You have God placing Adam, and then Eve, in this beautiful garden. I could only dream of tending a garden with so much beauty and splendor. Back to my point, this garden is beautiful but through choice, Adam and Eve end up having to learn to tend on their own. This hits home for me. As a child, we get to enjoy the fruits of our parent’s garden. At some point, we have to learn to tend to our gardens. That choice is to follow God or decide what we know best for ourselves. For some of us, the seed of salvation was sown early, for others it is later in life. It does not change that a choice has to be made.
Matthew and Luke both talk about Seed, the word of God, landing on rocky soil. Luke 8:6 says “Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.” Matthew 13:20-21 clarifies “The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.” I grew up as a pastor’s kid and looking back, I think a lot of us that grew up in church fall into this group. As children, we were happy in the word but as we became adults we struggled to put it into practice. We had no one to force us to go to church, no one to force us to pray, and we stopped watering that garden. God use’s my personal garden to teach me how prevalent and dangerous this is. We spent weeks tilling and piling rocks on the side. We must also till our spiritual garden and remove the rocks. We must make sure our spiritual garden is fertile and ready for seed.
Both Matthew and Mark talk about the Seed landing among thorns. Matthew 13:7 says “Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.” Mark 4:18-19 clarifies “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” I think this is an easy group to fall into. Many of my fellow Christians are here. It is an easy place to get stuck. In this same way, the weeds grow in my person garden without any help. If I do not dedicate time to tend my garden, nature will overtake it. I can not let the stress and worry of life become more important than my garden, spiritual or personal. Even more, when I feel that stress I must run to my garden. I must focus my attention. That time spent disconnected and focused, makes me stronger. The same is true with our spiritual gardens. We must run to them in time of struggle, let your spiritual garden strengthen you.
Again we can look at Matthew and Mark. Matthew 13:8 says “Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop–a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown”. Mark 4:20 clarifies “But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”. How do we become fertile soil? How do we bear fruit? The Bible, a good and faithful church, and most of all our fellow Christians, and our relationships with them.
Let’s talk more about bearing fruit. What fruit can we bear as humans? Galatians 5:22-23 tells us “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.” The opposite of these is the weeds that can choke out our spiritual garden. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. We are not only Christians to save our souls, but to bear fruit. It is constant work to tend our spiritual garden and bear fruit as the world temps us to walk away from it. Galatians 6:1 says Brothers and sisters if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
Our gardens are delicate things that need constant tending. We must open up to each other about our struggles to support each other in a time of need. We must worship with one another and praise the blessings that God bestows on our brothers and sisters in Christ. We must go to the house of the Lord to learn how to tend our gardens, to get the guidance, and be refreshed. We must expect more from our spiritual leaders, ask questions, and make sure we understand what is being spoken from our pulpits. The church family is the shed where we keep our gardening tools. It is where we go to get more help. Like the rain refreshes the garden, let God pour out on you and refresh you.
Jesus said: “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.” John 15:1 NLT
So many spiritual applications that Jesus made with nature’s illustrations.