Working in the Garden

Perhaps I've warned you before: I have a brown thumb. My husband is the gardener, the horticulturalist. He has graciously taught me and invited me to labor with him year after year in our yard. We've planted flowers together, all sorts of vegetables. I love breathing in the delicious smell that comes bursting from bags of soil warming in the sun, and feeling the rich, damp blackness in my hands. I love the cool rain coming down my cheek to my lips as we plant (Rain is the best time to plant, he says). I love peeling off wet clothes and jumping into a warm robe, standing just inside the door and watching our little charges savor their first Spring drenching in their new home. 

Then I'm done. 

I forget to water the Gerbers. I over water the vincas. I don't prune the barberries. I can't seem to remember to treat the peppers to a tasty, salty drink day after day. I get distracted, even a bit disillusioned. I'm content to adore the blooms and eat the benefits.

Did you know, God invites us to labor with Him in His garden of humanity? In John 4, Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob. He is exhausted. His disciples have gone into town to get something to eat. He asks the woman for a drink, and the conversation begins. We're not told if He gets His drink or not. Was she drawing as they talked? We don't know. Shortly after His disciples return with lunch, the woman leaves, and the disciples then urge their Master, Rabbi, eat. Jesus responds by telling them, I have food to eat of which you do not know, and explains His food is obedience. The Pulpit Commentary puts it this way:

The men of the spirit are consumed with desires which dwarf the desires of the flesh, and they forget to eat their bread.

Mercy! May that be true of us all. And that's exactly what Jesus continues to explain to His friends. He lives to do the will of His Father. That is His sustenance, His life. And what is God's will? To fill the Kingdom of Heaven for His glory! Jesus came that the Kingdom of Heaven might be full! He equates it with the harvest. The fields are ready to be reaped! God has sown His seeds in the minds and hearts of us all. Romans 1:20 says His creation so clearly proclaims His character, humanity is without excuse. No one can say they were unaware of the existence of God. The Father draws His elect to Himself and He Himself teaches us (John 6:44,45). But we have been invited to labor with Him and reap what He has sown. 

Going back to our little Garden of Eden at our home, Scott has taught me, but we work together. He stays close (he knows just how much damage I can do if left unsupervised) and he talks to me, teaching me as we go along. We decide together how we're splitting up our resources, which plants will go where. As long as I continue to stick right there with him, I stay on task. If I decide to "take a breather" or pop into the kitchen to check on something, that's when I get distracted. Sure, I was having fun; I was enjoying the work we were doing together, but over here, right here on the counter is this big piece of chocolate cake, and, well...It'll only be a couple nibbles, won't take long and I'll head back outside.

The men of the spirit are consumed with desires which dwarf the desires of the flesh, and they forget to eat their bread.

In what has God called you to labor with Him? Are there friends or neighbors who are hurting? Do your children or grandchildren know the love of Jesus? Is your church begging for volunteers --even to clean the church or shovel the sidewalks? Is there an extra room in your home that would fit someone perfectly? Do you pass the shelter day after day feeling as though Someone might be calling you to serve there? Are there cashiers, crossing guards, or councilmen with whom you speak regularly but have never shared the Gospel? 

Let us not be consumed by the desires of this life, the desires for physical needs and wants, but let us be men and women of the spirit, answering the call to labor with Jesus, tending and watering and reaping with Him, working diligently under His direction, forgetting even to eat our bread.