Book Reviews

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Gardening 101, Basic Instructions about God



Basic Instructions, we are God’s Garden planted in love, with a mandate to be fruitful and multiply here on earth.

James 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman (farmer) waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain.

Anyone who gardens or tries to grow a few flowers or plants around their homes understands that basic information is needed for their efforts to be successful and the plants to flourish. Sometime the soil has to be tilled and extra nutrients added such as top soil, fertilizer or mulches to protect the root system against the elements of the weather. And once established there is always some form of maintenance to keep them growing and healthy. It takes years for some plants to be at their finest, and all we desire them to be in their prettiest appearance, whether it’s a shade tree, hedges, or a flower bed.

Any landscaping and/or garden, requires patience and someone to attend to its needs. In any garden there will always be obstacles to overcome; in our life this is also true. In a garden it generally is related to weather conditions or some disease attacking the plant, in our life it seems we need a better understanding of how much God’s word can provide what we need, if we will only depend on it.

The natural desire to do it our way is deeply implanted in our fallen nature it seems. The old saying, when all else fails read the instructions is very appropriate here also. However, it seems when all else fails to produce for our spiritual needs, only then do we even attempt to read the instruction manual (Bible), or call in help from others who seem to understand what the Bible says.

Unfortunately many Christians seem to have their priorities wrong, and continue to do it their way until they have some catastrophe appear in their own life. God deserves more from His creation than being the second, third or tenth choice downs the line of their priority list. And I will state God isn’t fooled by any of our foolish thoughts, but He will allow you to make the choice in which way to go. Often He is even blamed for what has gone wrong in our life, we have all heard the” Why God did you allow this to happen to me? He didn’t, He just allowed you to do it your way first, in hopes you might see the light and run to his open arms for help.

I like the acronym on the word “Bible”; “Basic Instructions before Leaving Earth, pretty much says it all doesn’t it?

This leads us to the subject of pruning of the plants, taking off the dead limbs and trimming back the wayward growth to help a plant. It doesn’t look very pretty at the time, but given time it sprouts new growth and grows even stronger and in a better formed state. That’s what happens to us as we start to grow in the Lord, a nip and tuck here and there, lessons to learn in this life, suffering through some tough times to test our metal and grow our faith some more.

Every plant has specific needs and a special purpose in creation, some provide shade and shelter, and some are for food and some just for their beauty and our pleasure. Each child of God also has a specific purpose in God’s overall plans, called to bring glory to the Father.

We are all laborers together for the Kingdom of God, we don’t know our purpose totally now, but one day we will understand our calling in this vast production God created and placed mankind in.

Since the fall in the Garden of Eden, God’s desire has been to reclaim His children, and return them to His Heavenly Garden and to share eternity with them forever.

Amen.

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