Tiny shoots are peeking through the ground. My garden is coming to life again. When I speak of my garden, I am talking about our entire lawn, nearly three acres. Since our homeowner rules disallow fences, nothing encloses my garden. I like to think we have the “no fence” rule so our lawns and lives will mingle. Who knows; the rule was in place when I arrived.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
Nevertheless, scattered across our vast three acre “estate,” live-forever, daffodils, tulips, and plants I cannot recognize are protruding through earth’s epidermis. For months they were buried beneath the ground, enduring snow, cold and rain. Now they are waking to reward me. It’s as though they want to say thank you for my winter watch care.
When I was a boy, I often observed a bronze sign in our neighbor’s flowers that said, “I am closest to God when I am in my garden.” The sign did not mean much to me as a child; but it does now. Yesterday, as I observed the resurrection of my garden, I remembered the words of the Psalmist, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein.” (Psalm 24:1)
God is the giver of life to all things. Given the pecking order of life, plants would be near the bottom. You can talk to a plant, and many people do; but, to the best of my knowledge, they can’t talk back. Sometimes I wonder if plants can communicate with one another. For example, is the swaying of the trees some kind of sign language? Do the roots beneath the ground have a secret silent code? In creation, plants may figure as “some of the least of these”; still, God has filled them with life.
Part of what intrigues me with my garden is the fact that I am partnering with God. I can put the seeds and plants in the ground, but only God can give them life. Observing the tiny courageous plants spring up reminds me God is still alive.
Apparently, Jesus had a love for gardens and plants. He often prayed in a garden, and many of His messages referenced plant life. Among His greatest words of encouragement, He said, “Look at the lilies.” (Matthew 6:28) If God rewarded the flora at the bottom of the life chain so beautifully, think how well He will care for you at the top of the life chain.