“The Lord will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” Isaiah 58:11
Gardening is for souls that are home-bound to the
soil of the land.
Being good stewards of God’s earth and all its resources.
Gardening is for hands that toil and toil the earth,
while the mind and heart gives life to seeds, buds and bulbs,
hopes and dreams.
Gardening will provide for the gardener and those employed by a gardener.
A garden will enlarge and supply benefits from a heavenly hand.
Adam was the first to model this life.
Gardening is not for waste, haste or disturbance.
Slow, meticulous, peace and calm while waiting for
the seasons to show and give their timely demands.
A garden does not brag about its giving-
A gardener’s work is not to show and tell;
but model a way to the quieting of the soul,
while supplying substances for the health
of a man.
A gardener stays with the soil and waits patiently,
while becoming one with the moment of the bloom.
It takes weeding out the weeds that stunt the growth
of the fruit to be plucked.
A garden and a gardener needs great courage, for:
Out of the garden’s life comes the gardener’s life.
Sara (c)June, ’08
thedailylily.com 
What a stunning and thought provoking essay on “the gardener & his garden”! I think Gardens are a favorite with GOD. Right ‘in the beginning’ He planted a garden.
In Isaiah 28 the Lord directs on how to plant a garden. He says in Isaiah and to all us would-be gardeners, “listen up. Does he who plows for sowing, plow continually? Does he continue to harrow the ground after it is broken up and smooth? No, when he has leveled the surface of the ground he then casts forth the seed, whether it be fennel or cummin….a spicy seasoning…but he puts the wheat in rows and he places the barley in its intended place. And the good gardener TRAINS each of his crops correctly for GOD, the great Gardener, instructs him correctly on how to garden. For dill is not threshed with a sharp instrument but beaten by hand and cummin crushed with a rod. Nor does one crush bread grain continuously. But when he has crushed it he then scatters the seed to the wind to gain another crop in another harvest. This is from the LORD of Hosts Who is wonderful in counsel, excellent in wisdom and effectual working.”
What a great Horticulurist The Almighty God is. He knows how to plant and He knows how to harvest!
This is such a beautiful, meditative poem that speaks volumes. I have always loved the plaque that hangs in Sara’s garden and reads “One’s nearer God’s heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth”. I think she has captured the essence of it in her ‘Thoughts’.
As in GOD’s creation of man, I believe another of HIS great ceative miracles is “seed life”. This could only be initiated and created and devised by an ALMIGHTY, CREATIVE GOD. Who could have ever thought up the concept of the SEED….a small piarticle of material and yet within it are all the components , complete,in totoal to reproduce itself and to make and bring forth fruit and life and trees and vegetables and flora and fauna from the dust of the earth. What a miracle, only out shown by Christ’s death offered on the cross for all mankind. The planting of of the Son of God in an earthen tomb and the glorious bursting forth from that SEED the SON of GOD….new life, eternal life, the FIRST FRUITS of the Harvest of souls for the Kingdom of GOD; GOD’S GLORIOUS GARDEN from which emanates all of His harvest of souls….. SEED LIFE!
‘Out of the garden’s life comes the gardener’s life.’
This reminds me of my grandmother’s life. Gardening was not a hobby as many of us know it today. It became a necessity when she had spent almost every penny to pay medical bills resulting from her husband’s month long hospital stay and subsequent death when they had neither health insurance or government aid. Faced with an empty bank account, left alone in a large house in a rural area far from a grocery store, and not driving could have been a cause for despair. Instead, as a child, I watched her work her way back on her feet, trusting in the Lord. I asked her once, “Aren’t you afraid to stay in this big house all by yourself?” She said no, she was never afraid, the Lord was with her. And so He was as she planted peas, onions, radishes, carrots, tomatoes, corn, potatoes and many other things in a large garden…all by herself. Outfitted with a straw hat and pocketed apron and standing just 4’11” tall, she would carry the produce inside in a bushel basket and work hard in a hot kitchen canning. Her cabinets were filled with jars of beans, tomatoes, carrots and fruits to sustain her through the long winters. Waste was not a word in her vocabulary except when she admonished me with a favorite phrase “Waste not, want not”. And I believe the garden taught her many spiritual principles as well for her two favorite hymns that she would sing to me at night when I visited with her were “Onward Christian Soldiers’ and “Bringing in the Sheaves”:
Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,
Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;
Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
Refrain
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves,
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves,
Sowing in the sunshine, sowing in the shadows,
Fearing neither clouds nor winter’s chilling breeze;
By and by the harvest, and the labor ended,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
Refrain
Going forth with weeping, sowing for the Master,
Though the loss sustained our spirit often grieves;
When our weeping’s over, He will bid us welcome,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
Refrain
Thank you, Debi, for this vivid and moving sketch of a true Proverbs 31 woman.
You have inherited a godly inheritance from your courageous and diligent Grandmother. She has bequeathed an industrious and godly spirit to her granddaugther, Debi, the BEE!
When I think of a garden I think of the Garden of Eden, God’s Garden that He created. Human kind found a way to abuse even God’s Garden. I at times mediate on God’s Garden and think, what was God thinking and feeling about His son one day dealing with another garden, Garden of Gethsemane. This garden is one of the most famous places mentioned in the gospels — according to Mark and Matthew, this was the place where Jesus prayed alone and asked that he not have to endure the suffering and crucifixion that was to come. It was also here that his betrayal by Judas and arrest occurred. It was here that His best friends, Peter, James and John let Him down. He asked them to sit and watch with Him as He prayed. They went to sleep.
A Garden speaks of prayer and meditation to me. It is a place to talk with Our Father, Our Saviour and The Holy Spirit, if we want to make His Garden our garden. A Garden was the first home of man.
…..God formed man from the dust of the ground…..and then he said be fruitful and multiply….seems like mankind is a great big garden and there are weeds that grow up in it too according to Matt. 13;24…..he called them tares ….Sara you sure make us think! oops….meditate! …..dj
“Just as the rain and snow descend from the skies and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth, making things grow and blossom…so will the words that come out My mouth not come back empty-handed. They’ll do the work I sent them to do” (Isaiah 55:10-11, Message).
Dear God, thank You that I am a well-watered garden, blossoming, blooming and vibrant and growing. Let my praise be like invisible vapors that goes into your throne room, Your ears and Your Heart O Lord. and creates a cloud of blessings to rain on our lives. Let us experience Your blessings and provisions and thrive as a beautiful plant to live and give abundance to others and the earth from our river of life, In Christ Jesus Name, I pray, Sara
Thank you for this prayer of blessing and provision and that you allow the Son’s powerful rays to shine so brightly on your being that it can draw those ‘invisible vapors’ of praise straight to His throne.
Thank you for the prayer of blessing and provision. May our lives in Christ be the provision that those around us can gather in wherever we are.
In regards to weeding my Mom use to say “Weed your garden daily.” With all the wonderful rains I have found this to be quite true. We have wire grass in our garden and it has almost taken over our onions and potato plants. It is very difficult to pull out put not impossible. As I was pulling it I was reminded that the wire grass is like our sins. We need to have it pulled daily if we want to flourish as a plant for the Lord, otherwise we eventually perish or we lose our focus and can only see the weeds closing in on us. Those weeds seems to have tough roots but God can up root those things in our lives even if we think it impossible, if only we seek Him daily. Jesus loves his tender plants – you.
To all gardeners that might have some ‘hot tips’ for some of us on newer gardeners.
We are faced with groundhogs eating our plants and fruit of the vine. Squirrels, and other related live little creatures making frequent visits and having their own parties. They seem to visit the garden before we awake and after we leave.
Not only weeds but animals and diseases are visitors to our beautiful and hard worked gardens. Takes a community of hard work, prayer and love to bring about a harvest for a community. I for one sure take way too much for granted.
DJ,
Thanks for the scripture in Matthew. (13:24). The footnotes in my Bible stated that in verses 36-43 gives the meaning of this parable. Read with me: “Then, leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house. His disciples said, ‘Please explain to us the story of the weeds in the field. Jesus replied, ‘The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed. The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds re the people who belong to the evil one. The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels. Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. the Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”
Your right, DJ, a lot to meditate on!
Hi Needles,
The thing I wish most of all is that we could more easily identify the weeds. Through my life experiences, I have found that the weeds come masked sometimes as Christians and I am so disappointed the mask comes off.
The first step in dealing with and eradicating weeds is to correctly identify them. Once they are known and faced for who they really are their characteristics will reveal the proper mode of treatment. Treatment isn’t usually successful unless this happens. This is true of dealing with sin in our lives too.
One identifiable weed is wrong thoughts. And, another is bad attitude. Paul said buffet your body and that may be go when you don’t feel like it, overcome discomfort in the body by pressing on. Paul said “I have not attained yet but I press on to attain.”
Sometimes we want to brag about ourselves or our accomplishments and many times about our children or family. It is not for us to brag for they and their fruit are the show and tell.
There is a difference when one gives sincere and honest praise in order to encourage their children or others but that is not show off arrogance.
Rena and Debi, you have said that we must identify these weeds first, before we can properly treat them. I read in Romans 7, some very interesting information. For the sake of space I would like to encourage verses 7 through 25, but I will post here the footnotes, from my Bible, for verses 9-11. Read with me: “Where there is no law, there is no sin, because people cannot know that their actions are sinful unless a law forbids those actions. God’s law makes people realize that they are sinners doomed to die, yet it offers no help. Sin is real, and it is dangerous. Imagine a sunny day at the beach. You plunge into the surf; then you notice a sign on the pier: ‘No swimming. Sharks.’ Your day is ruined. Is it the sign’s fault? Are you angry with the people who put it up? The law is like the sign. It is essential, and we are grateful for it, but it doesn’t get rid of the sharks.”
Could these scriptures be a help to us in identifying and treating these horrible weeds in our life?
“show off arrogance”
Sara, I found a scripture in Proverbs that shows us what God thinks of arrogance. Proverbs 8:13 says: “All who fear the Lord will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruptions and perverse speech.”
Also, over in I Corinthians 1:31, the scripture tells us: “Therefore, as the Scriptures say, ‘If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”
Needles I think these scriptures are helpful to us because they make us see and face sin and also know that Jesus (vs 25) is the One who can deliver us. When others confront us with our sins it can help deliver us also because it makes us see the truth about ourselves and our actions. We may not like to give up the day of swimming at the beach but at least the sign saves us from getting eaten by sharks if we will heed it.
Needles, vs. 29 of the same chapter says, “no flesh should glory (boast in His presence.” Maybe that is the reason why we at times want to leave Jesus out of a large and important part of our lives. We want the glory and not give it to God.
When we or our children do something great we want all the glory to go to us as flesh longs to take God’s glory. But, God gave the gifts to our children and to us. Yes, He gave us the gift of the child and we are to give the child the opportunity to develop and use their gifts. But, the glory goes to God. Some of the reasons why? When we need help, guidance, and wisdom to help develop godly character and correct wrong we desperately need to go to the maker of heaven and earth for counsel. If we have taken all the glory unto ourselves what record does He have of our child? He might tell us to go and find the help from the one that has taken all the honor and glory. And most likely they have no help because they are blinded by the glory.
Needles thanks for bringing light on this for this wisdom is found in “Out of the garden’s life comes the gardener’s life.” Sara… Yep, when God says we are like a well watered garden most of the time we think of a beautiful flower and not the soil, seeds, water, sun and work. I personally look at the beautiful picture on the packet of seeds and forget there are seeds inside that need more than me. Thanks for having early morning coffee chat with me. (blogging is just the best)
In MG’s comments above she quotes “Isaiah 28 the Lord directs on how to plant a garden”….read above or from scriptures for details on the how. Interesting how God takes a prophet and a book that is the number one seller in the world and of all time and uses it to tell us how to plants a garden or field.
“Gardening is for souls that are home-bound to the soil of the land. Being good stewards of God’s earth and all its resources.”- Sara As I read my own words I am amazed at just how true they are when I reread the Word of God and then hear the news of our land. I think of our resources and how at times we may have abused them. I think of how a tomatoes, cilantro, and and the list is still out for review can make so many sick and even kill. I think of why it is so important to bless the food we eat. Asking and giving God permission to keep any harm or deadly thing from harming our bodies, God’s temple. I think of how we need to teach our children to pray, bless their food and the food of our land. Teach ourselves and our children how to protect themselves and others from being a part of our food harming ourselves or others. Have you paused to think how important our table grace really is? Don’t forget table grace is a part of our gardening…..
Thinking about ‘table grace as part of our gardening’ and being ‘good stewards’ forms a chain of links that entertwines our lives, the lives of others and the generations to come. As responsible ‘gardeners’ we must also be aware of methods we use to produce food and plants. We must excersise great care and responsibility with our use of pesticides and fertilizers (even organics) for what we apply in our garden may have an effect on our neighbors’. What our bodies may not be sensitive to, our neighbors’ or someone else handling the produce/plant may be. Using more than the product label says to may actually negate what we are tring to accomplish or produce an undesirable effect. Untimely, misuse or overuse can end up in our drinking water. Allowing weeds and diseases to flourish in our garden can spread to someone elses…and the list goes on. If we could remember and do in all, even the seeming little things, to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and …love our neighbors as ourselves’ we would help to make God’s garden of people more healthy and beautiful.
After reading the forward of Max Lucado’s Book, A Gentle Thunder, I thought of the old program – “This is your life” where they had an album of people in a person’s life and brought out different people the person’s life had touched. In Max Lucado’s forward is says that “a book should be a garden that fits in the hands. Word – petals of color. Stems of strength. Roots of truth. Turn a page and turn the seasons. Read the sentence and enjoy the roses. …Weeds sprout and ideas wilt. Some paragraphs need water, others need the shears.” We are the book, we are that garden. Thank goodness for the flowers that bloom as evidence of the authentic self coming forth. How terrible that the weeds that come forth are not recognized by the garden as such until someone – the master gardener points it out. Oh the zap of the weed killer, but joy of freedom for healthy growth to come forth. Wow to ideas that are not right or don’t fit into our being which were either contrived by us and put on us by someone else which have no part to do with our garden – wilt away and don’t return. May we become a classic book, a superb garden which generations can glean from.
great thoughts by Sara. Rena your idea of ‘this is your life” fits perfectly with Sara’s gift of “a garden is a gardener’s life.” How well do others read your life?
If out of the garden of our lives fruit is produced, how great is that fruit and will others recogize that there is nourishment manifested in our llife’s garden and how may we nourish others with that fruit? Will we produce large, glorious legumes, root fruit…or big, lovely looking apples but when someone takes a bite, they get a mouthful of wax? Are our fruits just for show? Are they just for grandstanding? Are they just to put in a pretty bowl on our cherrywood table….but don’t touch? Or it our fruit edible, nourishing and nurturing?