“A camp, Corrie, a concentration camp, but we were in charge. The camp was in Germany. It was no longer a prison, but a home where German people who had been warped by his (Hitler’s) philosophy of hate and force would come to learn another way. There were no walls, no barbed wire and the barracks had window boxes. It will be so good for them . . . watching things grow. People can learn to love from flowers . . .” (Life Lessons from the Hiding Place by Pam Rosewell Moore).

God is the Master Gardener. An interesting scripture is found in the book of beginnings, “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed” (Genesis 2:8). The garden’s beauty must have been beyond description. Adam and Eve were placed in the garden and given the assignment to dress and care for it. In the cool of the evening God would come down into the garden to walk and talk with them. How thrilling and fulfilling that must have been. A millennia later, the Son of God would often retreat to a garden to commune with his Heavenly Father.

During Jesus’ ministry on earth, he would often use illustrations from nature in his teachings. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “For this reason I say to you do not be anxious for your life . . . Is not life more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air . . . they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? . . . And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith?” (Matthew 6:25-30 NASB)

Put your trust in the Master Gardener. He created the universe. He planted the first garden. Even with the great vastness and variety of God’s creation, you are “worth much more than they.”

Sadly, many love the creation more than the Creator. Jesus gave us the key to true peace and prosperity. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). What place does Jesus Christ, the Son of God, have in your life? Jesus said that His Father is the “vinedresser”. (See John 15:1 NASB.) God is the Master Gardener. He prunes, weeds, and cleanses us that we might bear fruit. (See John chapter 15.) Jesus reminds us that as a “branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me” (John 15:4). Are you in Jesus and is He in you? Is He in your heart and life? As His words abide in you, so you are cleansed and nourished to bear much fruit. What happens to a branch that does not abide in the vine? It dries up and dies. “They are gathered, cast into the fire, and burned” (John 15:6).

It was in the Garden of Eden that the serpent (Satan) tempted Adam and Eve to rebel against God and sin entered the world. The curse not only came upon Adam and Eve but all creation. Thorns and weeds infested the garden. Adam’s race would till the ground and earn their living by the sweat of their brow. (See Genesis 3:14-19 and Romans 8:18-23.)

Just as mankind fell to the tempter in the garden, the Second Adam, the man Christ Jesus won the victory over sin and death in the Garden. (See I Corinthians 15:45-57 and Romans 8:32.) In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus agonized in prayer for you and me. Would the sinless Lamb of God drink the cup of suffering that would lead Him to the cross to die for the sins of the world? In the Garden He prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink it, Thy will be done” (Matthew 26:35-46). In the garden, Jesus learned obedience.

A garden flourishes under the care of a master gardener. If you will become the planting of the Lord (Isaiah 16:3), God’s garden (I Corinthians 3:7, 9), you will flourish, be fruitful, and live forever. Be planted and abide in the garden of the Master Gardener.

A - Admit you have sinned. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

B - Believe in Jesus. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

C - Confess and leave your sin. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)