I remember watching my grandparents and their dedication to their garden, knowing that this would fill their food pantry and would be food on their table for the upcoming year. The planting of the seed was the most important part. It is where it all begins, the germination of that seed and the beginning of that new life.
So too in our spiritual lives the seed is planted, must be fed and watered before it begins to grow. The weeding, the watering, the tending to the garden are totally necessary to ensure that the garden will grow and produce.. Without the care of the gardener, the fruit will never come forth. Without attention the vegetables would be eaten by pesky squirrils and rabbits, run over by deer, choked out by weeds and ultimately not provide the produce.
The proper planting, care and harvesting of that garden determines the amount of produce or fruit that will be born out of that labor.
The same is true of our Spiritual sustenance. At one point, someone who loved us planted the seeds hoping for a great harvest of Faith. I know for my brothers and I, that was our parents. And before them, their parents. They cared for us physically, but probably even more spiritually. They planted many things. They planted sound doctrine for an enduring Faith. They planted the foundation of love and relationships that could nurture that Faith. They protected the bounderies of that garden by teaching us about the body of Christ and coming together of believers to share in the celebration of Jesus.
They planted the Word of God in our heart. Just like the soil that is so crucial to the growth of a garden, needing to be rich and filled with vitamins, so the Word of God is the richness and the nutritional foundation for all other things that are planted subsequently.
Finally, and most importantly they taught us how prayer and worship is the watering of the seeds of Faith and the Word of God which must be ever present to grow the Faith and keep the Word alive in our hearts.
I have asked myself many times, what was it about my childhood that so strongly kept me grounded to the Faith that was planted in my heart and nurtured by my parents? What is it that I hold so fondly in my heart and seek to have in my life now? Being a pastors daughter, I thought at first that it was simply that lifestyle, the life of living daily at church with my parents, always being in a church service, singing hymns. Or was it the serving at nursing homes and the congregants?
After years of wondering what had captured my heart and gave me the strength to push forward in my Faith, I realized it was instead the quiet nights of prayer and worship sitting on the living room floor in my parents house. We would come together to pray and worship, holding hands and lifting our voices. Typically during times of trial, but often just to be a family and to keep the presence of the Lord as our safe haven and our focus. Seeking the Face of God and His heart for our lives.
Those times of fellowship and relationship, intimate and transparent, I believe were similar to what the disciples walked out with Jesus. They shared in the Word together, discussing and asking for further revelation. They shared in lifting their voices in praise and adoration to their heavenly Father. They asked questions of their teacher who was the living Son of God, and they sat quietly in prayer, seeking the keys to the Kingdom of God so that the Kingdom could be grown and increased.
I wonder, is the fruit of the labor of those that have gone before us, those who have handed down their spiritual legacy to us being seen in our lives? Is the Fruit that Jesus says must be seen, being seen in our lives? Are we tending the garden where our Faith has been planted ensuring that the Fruit will be there?
John 15:5
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Are we honoring the Faith of those that have gone before us? In order for us to fulfill the promise of Hebrews 12:1, we must be faithful to the Gift of Faith that has been passed down to us, planted in us.
Hebrews 12:1 (Hebrews 12)
Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
That cloud of witnesses are those that had the courage and the strength and the Faith to persevere and continue on in the Faith knowing that the race would end with the crown of victory, the crown of life. But they also knew that the promises they had received would come to fruition in another generation.
Our grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters planted seeds un Faith believing that someday there would be a great harvest. Believing that those trees and plants would bear fruit that would go to seed for even another generation.
Are we being faithful? Are we bearing the fruit that we are called to bear? Are we being faithful to the furthering of the Kingdom of God? Pressing on toward the mark, completing the race, harvesting the garden.
Hebrews 11 says that
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Without us taking up the plow and continuing to plow, tend and care for the seed that was planted, the great harvest will not be as great a it should be. Our part of this legacy must happen so that the promises that were given yet not fulfilled will finally be seen in the natural.
We must hold fast to the Faith and finish the race fulfilling all that has been spoken to all of the generations. The Baton that was handed to us won't cross the finish unless we persevere in the race and cross into the Kingdom of God. Lets ensure that we have tended and harvested the garden that we were given to oversee. And then, we will be satisfied like a freshly watered garden.
Isaiah 58:11 (Isaiah 58)
And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
