Gardening

I love to garden. There is just something about getting your hands in the soil, nurturing the plants, and watching them grow. It makes me feel closer to my Master Gardner. I don't always have a green thumb, but I love making the effort.

Spending time gardening this weekend made me once again think about our Master Gardener. He is described in John 15.

• My garden and lawn had been neglected for a long time due to my illness as my family and I kept up with basic needs. It is going to take more than a weekend or two to get it back to what it should be. It made me realize how sometimes I neglect my walk with God and just slide by with only what seems necessary. It takes spending quite a bit of time with the Master Gardner to get my life garden back in order!
• God sometimes has to prune my life in order to bring more fruit just as I had to prune bushes to allow them to bring more fruit. Sometimes this pruning hurts, but it is necessary to let His fruit show through and grow in our lives. 
• As we pulled weeds which were overtaking the garden, I mentioned to my young helper that although the weeds seemed pretty at first, they quickly were crowding out the good plants. Sin does the same thing. Weedkiller was needed to help completely eradicate the weeds. I could not get rid of all of them myself. Sin cannot be eradicated without Christ's blood and resurrection power. This blogpost has an interesting analogy of weeds and sin.
• Each plant in the garden and yard needed different types of gardening assistance. Some plants needed a bit more breathing room and had to be thinned out. Some had little life left in them and needed to be completely cut back. Some needed to have the weeds removed. Others needed to be pruned back to allow them to bear fruit. They are all at different stages, have different colors, different types of leaves, and different needs.
  Isn't that the same with us? We often wonder why God is doing something different in someone else's life or question the preferences (not doctrine or sin issues which do need to be addressed) in a brother or sister's life. It reminded me of my nieces and nephews. I hear "It's not fair." frequently. Couldn't the plants cry the same "Not fair" statement? I was convicted that sometimes I may cry "UNFAIR" to God not remembering that He knows best or question why He is the Master Gardener and knows what is best.

My garden brought me face to face with the garden of my life. How is your garden growing? Have you spent time with the Master Gardner recently?