“It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.’” (Luke 13:20-21).
My children like to garden. I have written about this before. I love to see it because I am a terrible gardener, and it is lovely to be able to witness one’s children being good at something that I myself am not good at. They take after their father and his mother (may God rest her soul) in this regard.
The thing about gardening is that it requires an excessive amount of patience. It can take weeks or even months for a seed to germinate and then it can take months for that germinated seed to be ready for planting in the Earth. And from there it can take even more months to get the germinated seed to establish and then years to come to maturity and fruit.
And during that entire process, there are so many things that could go wrong. There could be too much water, or not enough. There could be too much frost or not enough. There could be bugs and pests that destroy the plant. There could be bad pruning or an accidental with a lawn mower. There could be insufficient nutrients in the soil to allow the plant to grow properly. And then there could be a whole other raft of things. Vandalism could destroy the plant, or it could be forcibly removed at maturity if it were planted in the wrong spot. Imagine a chestnut tree – which grows so big and massive, planted into a garden bed on the terrace of a unit. Even if the tree were to flourish in the terrace, it would remain stunted and would eventually fall (possibly in a dangerous way) and cause damage around it as it is designed for the earth and wide-open spaces rather than small compact areas like on a terrace of a unit…
Christ spoke of plants… “He said therefore, ‘What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.’” (Luke 13:18-21).
You see, when we pray, we plant a seed. And just as a seedling in the ground takes time to mature and produce fruit, so too do we require time and energy as we develop and produce “fruit” for God. And just as there are risks with the seedling that is planted – that it will be destroyed and die – so too are there risks that my relationship with God will die – even though God will never leave me – as the effects of sin are like a pest which invades the tree. And those effects start very small – just as a pest laying some eggs on one leaf of the plant. But without proper diligence, those eggs will hatch and spread disease over the whole plant as the Evil One spreads evil over my whole soul if I do not remain on my guard…
And I have been thinking about that today, as I have been thinking about the plants that my children have in the garden and as I have been thinking about God…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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