The Inconsistent
Gardener
11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought
to love one another. 1 John 4:11 (NIV)
9God, whom I serve with my whole heart in
preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how
constantly I remember you Romans 1:9 (NIV)
I have a confession: I am an inconsistent
Gardener
11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought
to love one another. 1 John 4:11 (NIV)
9God, whom I serve with my whole heart in
preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how
constantly I remember you Romans 1:9 (NIV)
I have a confession: I am an inconsistent
gardener. I give my flowers my full attention most of the time, but sometimes I get
distracted and develop an approach that is, at best, haphazard. During those times I
only pay attention to the parts of the garden that demand my care. You see, some of
the flowers in my garden are bold and hardy specimens which remain unaffected by
forgotten waterings, too much sun or sloppy planting. They are able to endure no
matter how careless I am. Other plants are less able to hold up under my indifferent
care; they wither, they struggle to grow, they rarely bloom.
While I know I shouldn't, I exploit the luxury of occasionally ignoring the needs of the
hardy plants because I know they will manage to hang in there. I am often tempted to
leave that hardy group for last when I care for the garden, knowing that they will
"forgive" me if I run out of daylight and have to put their care off until the next day.
They won't wither, they won't wilt, but neither will they fulfill their potential by
blooming abundantly. I applaud their resilience, but I admit that they would be
amazing if I would care for them properly.
The people in our lives are very like my garden. Most of our friends and family, our
co-workers and fellow church members require our loving attention for relationships
to flourish and grow. We are careful of their feelings. We listen and are
compassionate when they are hurting. We are patient with them and we offer words
of praise. In short, we let them know they are loved through our words and actions.
But those other people in our lives, those hardy ones, are often neglected by us. Not
out of malice, but because we know they will always be there for us. We can invest
very little effort in making them know they are loved and they will remain faithful to
the temporarily abandoned relationship anyway. We place their needs on the back
burner and they forgive us, time after time. What wonderful friendships we might
have if we would only focus on these people too, for though they don't show it, they
also need our love, our kindness and our gentle attention to thrive.
Is your relationship with Jesus like one of those back-burner, behind-the-scenes
friendships? Our innocent Savior took our sins to the cross and died for us without
ever questioning our worthiness. We are forgiven through no merit of our own; loved
despite our weak and sinful natures. Cherished by God as His children! Yet do we
answer love given with love returned? Or do we count on our Lord to be there
always, waiting for our eventual return to Him, while we attend to more urgent
matters? By giving only a minimal effort to our relationship with Jesus, we miss out
on the wonder and joy we would experience if we would fully embrace and nurture
our connection with Him. Just as all parts of the garden thrive when we faithfully
attend to them, so will all aspects of our lives flourish and become more joyful when
we more fully devote our hearts to Jesus.
© 2008 Elizabeth Williams
distracted and develop an approach that is, at best, haphazard. During those times I
only pay attention to the parts of the garden that demand my care. You see, some of
the flowers in my garden are bold and hardy specimens which remain unaffected by
forgotten waterings, too much sun or sloppy planting. They are able to endure no
matter how careless I am. Other plants are less able to hold up under my indifferent
care; they wither, they struggle to grow, they rarely bloom.
While I know I shouldn't, I exploit the luxury of occasionally ignoring the needs of the
hardy plants because I know they will manage to hang in there. I am often tempted to
leave that hardy group for last when I care for the garden, knowing that they will
"forgive" me if I run out of daylight and have to put their care off until the next day.
They won't wither, they won't wilt, but neither will they fulfill their potential by
blooming abundantly. I applaud their resilience, but I admit that they would be
amazing if I would care for them properly.
The people in our lives are very like my garden. Most of our friends and family, our
co-workers and fellow church members require our loving attention for relationships
to flourish and grow. We are careful of their feelings. We listen and are
compassionate when they are hurting. We are patient with them and we offer words
of praise. In short, we let them know they are loved through our words and actions.
But those other people in our lives, those hardy ones, are often neglected by us. Not
out of malice, but because we know they will always be there for us. We can invest
very little effort in making them know they are loved and they will remain faithful to
the temporarily abandoned relationship anyway. We place their needs on the back
burner and they forgive us, time after time. What wonderful friendships we might
have if we would only focus on these people too, for though they don't show it, they
also need our love, our kindness and our gentle attention to thrive.
Is your relationship with Jesus like one of those back-burner, behind-the-scenes
friendships? Our innocent Savior took our sins to the cross and died for us without
ever questioning our worthiness. We are forgiven through no merit of our own; loved
despite our weak and sinful natures. Cherished by God as His children! Yet do we
answer love given with love returned? Or do we count on our Lord to be there
always, waiting for our eventual return to Him, while we attend to more urgent
matters? By giving only a minimal effort to our relationship with Jesus, we miss out
on the wonder and joy we would experience if we would fully embrace and nurture
our connection with Him. Just as all parts of the garden thrive when we faithfully
attend to them, so will all aspects of our lives flourish and become more joyful when
we more fully devote our hearts to Jesus.
© 2008 Elizabeth Williams
photo by E. Williams