Ecclesiastes 3.2 reminds us that there is “a time to plant and a time to uproot.” Right now is the time to plant. There will come a time to uproot in terms of harvesting and clearing the garden for the dormant winter. But now is the time to plant. If you are like Linda, you already began some vegetables inside. But if you have done that, it is time to plant them outside in your garden. I think that will be this weekends work, rototilling and then planting. In Linda’s pre-planting stage, she determined what she wants to grow in the garden and then gets those seeds nd plants them in little containers. There are some things that we have every year. However, some things change. But the rule of gardening is if you want tomatoes, you have to plant tomatoes. If you want corn you plant corn, and so on.
This is true for our spiritual garden, our lives also. Galatians 6.7-8, 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. If we desire, as we should, to please the Spirit we need to do and say those things that are in keeping with the Spirit. We need to sow love, gentleness, caring, kindness, wisdom, understanding, peace, forgiveness and the like. These are the right kind of seeds that will produce good spiritual fruit in us and in the lives of others. But if we sow hatred, impatience, indifference, hostility, foolishness, misunderstanding, conflict, unforgiveness and bitterness and the like, we will reap the consequences of the judgment of God. John wrote in his first letter that if we love God we will love one another. If we don’t love one another then we don’t love God.
And so first we must choose to love God which is the first commandment. And then we must love others. In this way we will reap the good fruit that we have desired to plant by the power of the Spirit.
In Christ Alone
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