This is a picture of my new veggie garden. I just planted lettuce, spinach, kale, and snap peas. I’m totally excited about it, which makes me sound totally old, right?! The garden plot has been occupied for the past many years by our above-ground swimming pool, but the kids barely used it last year so we retired it and I’m still trying to sell it on Craigslist. OK, back to the garden.
I think that gardening….the art & commitment to growing stuff…is a lot like our spiritual lives. We don’t know exactly why & how seeds grow into plants, but we know what to do in order to cooperate with nature so that it happens. We can just become students of what different kinds of seeds do, what they require, and put-in the hard work that’s needed to make them behave in the way they were designed to by the Designer.
Like plants, we all want to grow, to be healthy & protected, to bear fruit and be lovely & useful. In life, we want to be blessed, to be favored in our circumstances and fulfilled in our hopes & dreams. We all want to go to heaven when we die. We all want to love and be loved. We want to make others happy. We all want to internalize the lessons we learn from our mistakes, getting stronger & wiser as time goes on. We all want to make a difference in the world, so it’s better because we were here. But in my experience, not many people are willing to do what it takes to nurture these outcomes. Instinctively, these are all manifestations of the GOD STUFF in us, and it is THROUGH GOD that they ultimately find their fulfillment.
Every one of us was made in God’s image, and that image lay within us like seeds. The amount to which the God stuff grows within us, out from us into the world, and underneath us propelling us into closer relationship with our Creator beyond this world, is proportional to the amount of commitment we exert in seeking those things in the manner He has revealed to us. We don’t invent the rules, but we can learn to cooperate with them. Scripture calls this kind of lifestyle “submission”, “faithfulness”, “walking with God”, etc.
If you want a withered & weak spirit, ignore all this and do whatever you want. But the God of the Universe has reached into human history and left footprints for us to follow. If you’re open to Him, and want the best of what He created you for, it’s not necessarily easy but it’s really simple. Seek the objective truth of who God is relentlessly, read your Bible for real, pray like God is actually there, spend time with other people who are more committed to following Jesus than anything else, be generous to others with time & money, say “no” to passions & temptations that inhibit your dedication & growth in God. The growth and fruit is worth it….it’s the only thing that’s worth it that will bloom into eternity.
