“Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.’ And it was so.” Genesis 1:11
“LOOK!!!” she said! Though we live in Florida, the ‘land of flowers,’ we haven’t seen much of them lately. Winter had taken its toll on the pretty posies Katie likes to look at outside her glass door, so that all that remained were leaves. But Then!
A climbing, flowering, viney plant I gave her last summer had lost all it’s flowers. Last week was ‘spring break,’ and we were busy cutting away dead vegetation when I heard her cry out. There, at the end of a stem, hung the start of a flowering bud! And with that little bud came a sign of hope… then a vision!
It didn’t take long for her to get excited to catch the vision. Soon we were at the store buying potting soil, seeds and fertilizer because, with that springing bud came a vision and desire to GROW SOMETHING. The problem is, we’re not even farmers! But something was springing up! Which got me to thinking…
Back “In The Beginning,” God simply said “LET the land produce vegetation.” Which is easy for HIM! Being God, the vegetation business took no work at all. After the fall, a whole new way of farming had to be learned and implemented. Labor and sweat became main ingredients for any backyard garden, and soon, Katie and I were sweating!
The symbolism of garden planting was often used by Jesus for things other than farming. The ability to produce ‘anything’ comes with a cost. To coax an ear of corn out of the ground takes more than just words and ground. Seed, effort, time, feeding and pest control all must be combined before any fruit can come. And it is that way for ANYTHING of value.
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows,” points to a universal principle that too often gets forgotten. In order to have a fruitful life, I must plant the seeds and do the work required to REAP that life. Cooperation WITH God is what He expects before a good crop can be harvested.
I can see that this Spring and with the Lenten Season, God is calling and sowing seed in me to produce a crop of SOMETHING He wants the world to see. As the world seems to get more dark and dreary, I think He’s looking for a good example and reason to say… “LOOK!”
What is God growing in YOU?
