What Are You Growing In Your Faith-Garden?

If you could see a picture of my home, you’d be impressed by the beauty of the flora that surrounds it.  Oh, I don’t get any credit for the loveliness that I am privileged to behold each growing season – all that credit goes to the live-in gardener I married!  Many days each week my wife works long hours weeding, planting, transplanting, and trimming so that our property can explode with color and texture.  She tends the garden and trusts that God will make it grow, and that plan certainly works in our region of the country.  In that sense, she reminds me of the apostle, Paul, who said:

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.  Now the one planting and the one watering are one in purpose, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.   1 Corinthians 3:6-8

Is there a secret to being a successful gardener?  Yes, there is.  The secret is hard work, lots of time on your knees, vision, patience, and trust.  The first four elements are provided by the gardener, and the last – trust – is based on the One who created each element in the garden to fulfill its intended purpose.  Trees produce leaves, texture, and shade; plants show off their delicate beauty in a variety of colors and shapes, while fruit is produced to feed the birds and insects that are drawn to them.  Everything is done according to a grand plan that existed long before the gardener.

Such is our life as believers who each share in the Gospel:

You have already heard about this hope in the message of truth, the gospel that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and recognized God’s grace in the truth...We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will…so that you may walk worthy of the Lord…bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.   Colossians 1:5-10

If you’re thinking, “Wait a minute!  I thought when I accepted the sacrifice of Jesus for my sins that I didn’t have to do anything else to get to heaven!”  That’s true.  But did you think your salvation was the end-point in the process?  Your commitment to Jesus was your STARTING point.  God intends us to serve as gardeners among the lost in our world.  We plant and water, trusting that God will provide the spiritual growth.  Where would YOU be if someone hadn’t invested some gardening time on you?  Who is it that planted the Word of God in you?  Who spent time watering and weeding so that you could blossom in your faith?

God never said it would be easy to be one of his faith-gardeners.  Spend some time in a real garden to be reminded of the challenges.  Weeds just seem to pop up and can choke out or hide the beauty that could be there.  Plants need to be pruned so more growth can occur.  You’ll need to wipe your brow, your back and knees will begin to ache, and you’ll get dirt under your fingernails.  Gardening isn’t for sissies!  But it does pay dividends.  What are you growing in YOUR faith-garden?  Whose life are you weeding or pruning?  Hard work?  Yes, but the effort is worth it when you see another believer growing and blossoming because of your hard work.  So if you haven’t started yet, it’s time to get on your knees and get your hands dirty!

Jacob