Christ the Gardener

Photo of Kathy’s watermelon.

As I was watching my freshly planted watermelon and cantaloupe grow in the garden, I realized they thrived because of proper soil nourishment and care provided by my dad. This garden was not left up for chance, some birds didn’t fly aimlessly and plant the seeds in some ground that was “tilled” by dogs digging holes, but in prepared dirt which would nourish the seeds. If it was all left to luck, the seeds would fall on barren land and never have an opportunity to grow. Mark 4:4 says, “as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.” Just like our walks with Christ, we need to nourish our soil so our seeds can grow. 

Sure, we could plant seeds but if we don’t have our eyes focused on Christ, read our Bibles, and keep on walking with Him, we can easily hit a rock beneath us as these plants do and not able to exhibit growth as it says in Mark 4:5 “some seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth or soil.” This could pop up in our own lives if we’re not careful. People say, “well, I read my Bible and go to church every Sunday, but all these bad or hard things happened to me. I’m tired of this, so no more.”  Make sure you are truly planted in God’s garden. 

True Christians are sown in Christ. Mark 4:20 “Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produced a crop-some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” Grow slow, grow deep, grows tall. In our zeal we may grow quick, but in that fastness you never developed deep roots in God, and at the first sign of wind you collapse. The plant dies off and never grows a watermelon. Be the seed that germinates, grows rich roots, and bears copious amounts of melons. Others will see the fruit of your actions, and you’ll be the water to their soil. Grow slow and steady in the Lord, mature, be strong in the Lord, and if you fall, it’s ok, God will prop you up with a bamboo stick, tie you to it, and lovingly help you grow strong.