Truths from the Garden

Genesis 3:17-19 "Then to Adam He said, 'Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, "You shall not eat from it"; cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.'"

A few months ago I was charged with the job of weeding a garden. Thankfully it was nothing like this display above, but it was an extremely grueling and time consuming project. Each day I went home dirty and sore. Maybe I'm getting old but when I remained in a kneeling position for too long, it took me a few extra seconds to stand up straight. My knees throbbed with pain as I tried to regain my composure.

During the countless hours logged on my knees, shovel in my gloved hands, I had plenty of time to meditate. During my meditation, I observed several things about a garden, both in the weeds and in the flowers that drew parallels in the spiritual life.

Wisdom from the weed:
1. A weed is something that is there but unwanted
2. No one ever needed to plant a weed. A weed grows on its own.
3. A weed can sometimes pose as a flower, but in its essence, it is still a weed.
4. The ground must be broken. Unless there is brokenness, the weeds cannot be properly removed.
5. The roots go deeper and wider than you think.
6. If just the fruit(flower) is plucked, the weed still remains unremoved only to grow its fruit back in a day or two.
7. Getting the root takes work. It takes getting down and dirty.
8. Removing the root takes loads of work.
9. When you weed a garden, you don’t need to tell anyone. People will notice the difference on their own.
10. Its fruit is evident to all.
11. A garden can't weed itself. It needs the help of a gardener.
12. A garden left untended (no accountability) will quickly be overrun with weeds.

Wisdom from the ground:
1. The soil must be properly toiled. The unwanted must be removed.
2. While dealing with one root, you often will stumble on something that doesn’t belong there that wouldn’t have otherwise been noticed.
3. The dirt makes the difference if a garden will grow there or not. It must be nurtured.
4. When someone has good soil, it is evident to others.

Wisdom from the flowers
1. Producing a garden takes knowledge of the work you are doing. You may accidentally uproot the wrong thing or leave the wrong thing.
2. Producing the beauty of a flower takes work.
3. It doesn’t come naturally. It must be planted.
4. It cannot be planted and left, but needs to be fed and nourished.
5. Weeds must be dealt with immediately or they will cut off the flowers.
6. One can produce a beautiful flower garden through hard work and labor, but if he slacks for few days, his work will start to become undone.
7. It takes lots of digging.
8. Anyone can see the evidence of the presence of flowers in a garden.

Obvious spiritual parallels can be found in this. Spiritual uprightness takes hard work and dedication. And the greatest of Christians are known to be Christian without having to tell anyone that they are Christians.

What kind of Garden are you?

*As I remember more of these parallels, I will add them to the list. Feel free to send me some of your thoughts and additions.

**All updates will be in bold