plant a seed today

GOD'S GARDENS

Isaiah 58:10-11 (NRSV)

If you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
The LORD will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.

[The kingdom of God] is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in
the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests
in its branches.
- Luke 13:19 (NRSV)

My wife and I were interested in becoming part of a church after an
absence of a few years. Eventually we joined a small congregation where
making personal and spiritual connections was easy for us. One of the
church's ministries is a vegetable garden that supplies fresh produce to
local soup kitchens.

The Bible gives us many garden stories. The mustard seed growing in a
garden is compared to God's kingdom (Luke 13:18-19). John tells us that
Jesus was buried in a garden (John 19:41-43), where he appeared to Mary
(John 20:11-16).

In my life, gardens have not always been so glorious. During my
junior-high years, I viewed the sweaty, dirty, itchy, hard work in my
family's garden as punishment for unknown transgressions. However,
working in the church garden has become a part of our worship, and my
feelings about gardening have changed.

That small church is our spiritual garden plot. Regular worship is our
spiritual watering, participation in Sunday school is tilling the soil,
and mission trips are our way of planting seed in the lives of others. I
am grateful that the Holy Spirit has given us a bountiful garden in the
church and in our lives.

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for opportunities to serve and to grow.
Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
How will you care for God's garden today?