Gardening

As Christians today we must take all the proper steps necessary to grow and mature in our everyday living if we plan to thrive. Our lives are so similar to watching the beautiful flowers and shrubs grow.

When we plant seeds or new flowers, we watch as they start to grow, as we feed them, water them daily and watch as the bees take the sweet nectar, the beautiful butterflies as they graze on the vibrant red and purple blooms. However, we also have to be careful of those same bees as to not be stung by them. Is not life the same? Have you ever watched an ant carry food back to its hill, it can carry so much more than its own weight, how many of us feel we have the burdens on our shoulders that we carry each and every day. Things simple as gardening turn some into satans workers.

Let us look at the story of Naboth and his family. One day he is out working in his vineyard, tending the vines, killing the bugs, pulling out the weeds and whatever else one does when you’re tending a garden. I can’t tell you myself, not much into gardening. I planted flowers all day and I am exhausted. Here he is working so hard, when the king arrives and makes him an offer he cannot refuse, but he does. What happens is that the king wants his vineyard so he can plant a vegetable garden in it; he offers to give him an even better vineyard, or anything else he wants. There is a problem for Naboth though, see this vineyard has been in his family forever. In fact it probably was given to his family hundreds of years before the Israelites had first arrived into the Promised Land to sell his birthright, which was against the law of God, so he didn’t even think about it he just told the king no.

The king went home in a very agile mood, let’s say he was sulking…Poor king, I feel sorry for him he was used to getting his way all the time and this time he hadn’t gotten his own way, he went in and threw his self on the bed having a pity party. He was so mad he did not even come out for dinner. 1Kings 21:6 while he is sulking his wife Queen Jezebel comes in and wants to know what is wrong. King Ahab tells her, how he had went and ask Naboth to sell him his vineyard and let him give him better, and he flat out turned me down. You can almost hear the baby tone in his voice as he goes on. Oh, how I love a woman of authority. She says to him, “Aren’t you the king of Israel?” she proceeds to tell him to get out of bed and eat and to quit the whining and worrying, for I will get Naboth’s vineyard for you. Makes you wonder, who really wore the pants in this family?

Sure enough, Jezebel took this into her own hands. She borrowed the King’s seal and letterhead and wrote letters to the officials of the town where Naboth lived, asking them to order the people in the town to begin a fast and to call for a town hall meeting with everyone in the community. Now this might seem a little strange to us, but to the people of Jezreel it could only mean one thing. They had displeased God and the officials were going to make it right. Along with the call to a fast, Jezebel added one other thing. She wanted the town leaders to find two false witnesses who would swear that they heard Naboth curse God and the King Looks like Jezebel was going to play dirty to me. She would see that Naboth would be executed. At the bottom of the letter, she affixed her husband King Ahabs seal and signature. And that’s what happened, as a matter of fact not only was Naboth stoned to death, but later on we discover that his entire household was put to death, leaving his estate including his vineyard without an heir. Well what is a king supposed to do? The land now reverted to him because the previous owner had been found guilty of treason and blasphemy. Looks like Jezebel was in control after all.

One of the Ten Commandments tells us Exodus 20:17 do not want anything that belongs to someone else. Don’t want anyone’s house, wife or husband, slaves, oxen, donkeys or anything else. It might seem harmless enough and yet that is the very beginning of our problems. God did not just put that commandment in because the Ten Commandments sounded better then the nine commandments; he put it in for a reason. Naboth knew that he would be in violation of God’s law if he sold his vineyard to the King, and do you know what? The King knew that it would be wrong as well, and part of why he was upset was that he knew that Naboth had more integrity then he did. That is never a pleasant discovery.
 It’s been said that if you are trying to prove how crooked a stick is, the easiest way is not to debate it, or to argue about it the easiest way is to lay a straight stick next to it
. The next time u are driving along and see how beautiful someone’s garden is, don’t’ want it, or take from it. Instead till up fresh dirt for yourself and plant what grows best where you are. When filling your heart with Jesus, get the necessary tools to give it 100%, remember your soul cannot be bought or sold; it’s your choice just as it was Naboths when it came to selling his vineyard.

Cultuvating your Garden

The signs of spring are everywhere. The days are longer; the birds are chirping their beautiful songs, even the bees are at work. Buds are swelling; and many bulbs are pushing their way up through the earth. Spring, for me, is the season when it feels as if my senses are waking from a long nap, from a long cold winter. I am suddenly more aware of the new life that is beginning to bloom all around me.


Spring is a time that we get out, get our hands dirty, and dig in the dirt. Gardening is like your spiritual growth in God. If you think about the garden you work on, does it bring you, joy? Do you like working in it? Tilling the soil, Planting small seeds, Watching the growth come out of the earth, Smelling the scents of the early daffodils,Seeing the bees and butterflies add to the garden's life? One of the first chores we can enjoy now is pruning and taking off the branches that are no longer necessary, shaping the shrubs so they show character. When you wake early in the morning its such a good time to get the tools out and shape, while the morning air is still cool. This helps them grow fuller and keeps the legs of the tree from being straggly, and or bare. This scripture comes to mind as I write this, John 15:1-2: "I am the true vine, and my father is the vine grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit." Jesus knew a lot about farming, and much of what he said related to what people did every day; he compared these daily tasks to how we should live, showing how everything we do can be related to God. It sounds simple, but if you pay attention to it, the practice can change your spiritual life. pruning is clipping away to get the shape you want; Each cut removes dead wood and allows more room for the plant to breathe and grow. how do we know what to trim, to eliminate and change? I am reminded of all the extras in my own life that I need to lessen so I can become more wholly centered. It Is never easy to prune things in our lives, we are so sentimental about everything, we are committed to materialistic things. However to make change and room for new we have to start pruning our lives to live a better life that is in line with God’s will. To start shaping each branch of our life.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it" (Isa. 55:10-11)

Soon it will be time to start seeding, but before you can do that you have to get the steps in order, so we shall start with pruning. My prayer for you is that I hope each of you will see what needs to be pruned out of your life so that you can be made whole in Christ in preparation of planting seeds, eternal seeds.

You the gardener work the fertile soil for the seed, however; God provided it for you. Now its up to you to add prayer and encouragement for God's plan to take hold. As the season continues, we will discuss the planting of the seeds. Look into your life and start pruning in preparation for this seeding.