Planting and Growing in God’s Garden

Confession time: I’ve killed more plants than I’ve actually grown. Because of my failings, I’m especially drawn to passages in Scripture that describe God as a Gardener or Vinedresser.

For example, in Isaiah 5, God is portrayed as the owner of a vineyard. He tilled the soil and planted, but did not receive a yield of good fruit. And in John’s gospel, Jesus described Himself as the true vine and the Father as the Gardener.

However, the passage I’m thinking about today is the Parable of the Sower. Most of us are familiar with it—perhaps too familiar.

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” ~ Matthew 13:3-8

This parable has been explained many times, comparing our lives to the trodden path, or the rocky, thorny, or good soils. But let’s think about this story from the farmer’s perspective.

The Gardener—God—scattered the seed. Now, especially in biblical times, seed was a precious commodity. Planting it meant food for the following year. Seeds were not to be wasted. But Jesus didn’t say the farmer carefully dropped the seeds into furrows in the good soil & it just happened that a few seeds landed on the path or the rocky or thorny land. No, He said he scattered the seed, then tells us where the seed fell: some on the path, on rocks, amid thorns, and finally, some on good soil.

Drawing a Parallel to the Gospel

Our seed is the Gospel and we are called to spread it! It’s a precious commodity. But too often, we hoard it. We’re careful about giving it out—sometimes too careful. We make evaluations about whether someone is worthy to hear it. Or maybe it’s not about the other person so much as it’s about us: our insecurities, pride, or experience.

• Perhaps you’ve shared the gospel with a co-worker who responded with mockery. Now you’re the target of office jokes, so you’ll never try that again!
• Maybe you’ve tried to talk about Jesus with a family member who reacted with such hostility that your relationship has never been quite the same.
• Perhaps you shared the gospel with someone who prayed to receive Christ, but soon returned to their old life of immorality, and you’ve written off anyone with a similar lifestyle.

Based on our experiences, we make judgments, don’t we? We decide who might be worthy to receive the precious seed of the gospel, and who is probably a waste of time.

But God doesn’t want us to carefully apportion the seed of the gospel to people who might seem like good candidates. He wants us to have a heart like His for others.

Because, before Christ, we were all a mess. Maybe we looked good on the outside, but we were hopeless and helpless on the inside. Before Christ, we were not just indifferent to God, we were His enemies, whether we thought of ourselves that way or not.

Yet, God did not dismiss us as worthless, or too far gone to be reached by the good news that Jesus died for us. He scattered His seed into our lives and it bears fruit.

Planting and Growing

Let’s take this analogy of a farmer a little further. Because a farmer not only plants the seed, he cultivates its growth. But not all seeds grow at the same pace.

• The seed of the common garden sunflower usually germinates in about 11 days and reaches a height of 6 to 8 feet within the first 3 weeks of growth.
• Some bamboo plants can grow 3 ft in 24 hours
• On the other hand, Guinness World Records documented that the slowest-growing tree is a white cedar found in Canada. After 155 years, it grew to a height of 4 inches and weighed only half an ounce.

Just as all plants do not grow at the same pace, neither do all people. And when it comes to the new life the Holy Spirit brings as a result of someone receiving the gospel of Jesus Christ, growth rates differ. The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I planted, and Apollos watered, but God made it grow.”

God still uses His people to plant and water new Christians. And just as different plants require different growing conditions, the same holds true for people. Cacti and rose bushes need different types of soil and different levels of water. Some people grow better in traditional church environments with stained glass windows. Others grow better by a picnic table under a bridge.

When planting and growing in God’s garden, lavishly scatter your seeds. Share the gospel with those you deem worthy, and those you don’t deem worthy. Plant your seeds across the street and around the world.

Cultivate that seed, too. Those with whom we share the gospel are more than numbers. Come alongside them. Disciple them. Invest in them as God used others to invest in you. And build relationships with other Christians who are also planting.

When we do, lives will be changed, Christ’s kingdom will be advanced, and our heavenly Father—the first and most important Gardener—will receive all the glory.