The Gardener

I love gardening. More specifically, I love flower gardening. I enjoy most elements of the process - the tilling of the soil, enriching the earth with nutrients, planting the seeds, checking faithfully for any sign of growth, pulling weeds, spotting a bud getting ready to bloom. Then comes my favorite part - the explosion of the flower! What a great reward!

No one makes me garden. I choose to do it. I have a friend who doesn't understand my joy of getting my hands in the dirt at all. She says she'd rather mop a floor 10 times than to put her hands in dirt. I offered to let her mop my floors, but she declined:) She doesn't understand the joy I have and the emotional attachment I feel to my living and blooming friends.

However, I know someone who totally understands how I feel about gardening. Actually He understands in an infinite way - He's God, our Creator. In John 15:1 Jesus states "I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener". Jesus goes on to say that if we remain in him as a branch of his vine, we will bear much fruit. This means that God is the gardener of every Christian.

So what does it mean to have God as my gardener? It means He chose to create me.It means He prepares my heart to receive the seed of His salvation. It means He takes joy in providing the sun, water, nutrients and ammenities I need to be successful and happy. It means He is always doing what is best for me. It means He pulls out the weeds that try to choke me. It means He enjoys every minute of my life process and rejoices when I bloom. It means His love for me is unending.

Thank you God for being the Gardener of my life. Thank you for loving me in a hands-on way. Thank you for getting Your hands into the dirt and creating me!

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27