What will your garden look like?

When I last wrote, I mentioned how God wants all the days of our lives, not just Sunday. This idea is best exemplified in the parables that Jesus used about things that grow, when he said such words as, “No good tree bears bad fruit, not does a bad tree bear good fruit” (Luke 6:43), or “Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times” (Mark 4:8).

These parables show both action and commitment. It takes nurturing, hard work, and skill to get a crop to grow bountifully, or to help an apple tree produce big juicy apples. Likewise, it takes nurturing, hard work, and skill for Christians to complete the work that God has asked of us. But it also takes love, a love that is willing to put others first. “Love each other as I have loved you,” Jesus commanded in the Gospel of John (John 15:12). That is a powerful and life altering statement, because the love that Jesus showed was a love of sacrifice for the benefit of humankind. He gave up his life so that we would not lose ours. How is it, you may wonder, that we can demonstrate such a love? How can we be the tree that bears good fruit?

In the end, it becomes a question of stewardship. We do not need to give up our lives for the benefit of others, but we should and must give up some of our time, talents, and treasures for the benefit of others. This is a hard thing, I know. I struggle with this idea constantly. A part of me wants to help those in need, to give all that I can to make my brothers and sisters in the world a little happier, to make their lives a little easier. But then there is a part of me that wants to keep the gifts that I have, to use them for my own pleasure and no one else’s. “I give enough,” that part of me says. “I gave to a charity last week. I helped out with that church ministry the week before. Let someone else step up to the plate this time. This is mine – my time, my money. It is my right to keep this portion for my own benefit if I want to.” And there is the rub. When I start believing that the things I have, the money in my bank account, is something that I earned with no one’s help, I forget that my very being, the skills that I was born with, came from the Creator of all things. When I follow this line of thought, I start believing that these earthly treasures are something to be hoarded, not gifts to be shared. I start putting my faith and trust in them. I begin to believe that they will secure my future, not God. In affect, I make an idol of them, for as Jesus warned, “where your treasure is, your heart will be also” (Luke 12:33-35).

An exercise that helps me with this struggle is to visualize the time when I leave this world. I will stand before Jesus, who will come to me and hug me like a brother, because I have put my faith in him, and so have been saved. Then he will turn, asking me to join him, and we will begin walking through a garden. There will be trees, plants, and bushes in the garden, and paths to walk upon, made of crushed pebbles. As we walk, he will look at all the fruits and vegetables, and he will decide if they are good or bad. After he is done, when he has gazed upon everything, he will turn to me and tell me what he found, because the garden we walked through is mine, it is the produce of my life.

I think of this vision, and I wonder – will Christ be happy or sad? Will he talk to me in a voice of sternness or gentleness? Will he be disappointed in me, or supportive in what I tried to accomplish? These are questions we all need ask ourselves, as we continue to work on our gardens, preparing for the day when we present them to the Master Gardener who trained us.

Peace be with you, my friends.