Hennie Symington

That evening they heard the Lord God walking in the garden, and they hid from him among the trees. But the Lord God called out to the man, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:8-9

God uses us to make the knowledge about Christ spread everywhere like a sweet fragrance. 2 Corinthians 2:14b

After only two weeks into the first month of the new year, it may be a little premature to ask, “So, how’s your garden doing? Any fruit or flowers to speak of?” Nothing yet? Don’t despair. Think back to those times when as a child you planted a seed between two layers of cotton wool or watched an avocado seed suspended in a bottle of water for any signs of growth. Sometimes you succeeded but you have to admit that more often than not you despaired at the sight of a dried up seed or a wilting plant in the bottle. Yet, you didn’t give up. Time and again you tried until you succeeded in growing a plant which could be transplanted in the garden where it could grow and bear fruit.

That’s the way it is with God’s clumsy gardeners here on earth. Sometimes we forget to consult God’s Gardening Guide when we cultivate our gardens. We want to smell the roses but forget about the hard work that goes into getting a garden to bloom. We start out enthusiastically but sometimes neglect to water or weed the garden or to fertilise it. Sometimes we mistake weeds for flowers and at times we must admit the weeds look very attractive to us. Yet God comes to our humble little gardens where he finds the odd forget-me-not, the wall flower, the shrinking violet or the proud rose tree looking up to heaven yearning for a bit of attention. That is when God spreads his grace over our patchy little garden making everything new like that Garden of old.

May your garden grow this year to give fivefold, tenfold and even a hundredfold return, making this year a bumper year that will not only gladden the hearts of those sharing your part of the woods, but also the heart of God.

Prayer: Dear Lord, forgive us that we allow the good seed to die in the ground while mistaking weeds for flowers. Please help me to garden my patch of earth so that I can spread a wonderful aroma in your kingdom. Amen