Planting a Spring Garden
March 27, 2009 by Ruth
Filed under Uncategorized
A Devotional for Kids!
I love gardening and this time of year I get very itchy hands. I want to start digging up my garden but it’s still covered with a few inches of snow. Snow is gorgeous in winter when you’re skiing or snowboarding but by the end of March I want my backyard to be brown and green instead of white.
When I read the story of the sower today I went out and bought some packets of vegetable seeds, and lots of tiny geranium starter plants. In Calgary you have to start the seeds inside the house or green house in spring or you will never get a harvest before the frost in early fall.
I want you to join me in a gardening experience. Let’s do exactly what the sower in Jesus’ story did. If you live in a cold area like I do you will need a shallow container with soil in it so you can plant your spring garden in the house. Make sure it has holes in the bottom and place a tray like an old cookie sheet under it to catch the drips when you water the seeds.
If you are so fortunate as to live in a warm climate you can plant your seeds outdoors in the garden. I am really struggling with envy at this moment thinking of you working in your garden outside. But living in Calgary is a choice I made for other reasons and am actually very happy here.
You can plant whichever seeds you wish but green bean seeds sprout quickly so I will suggest you use those if you wish. In one corner of your little garden plant two bean seeds. Place some rocks in another corner. Plant a couple of seeds on top of the rocks with just a bit of dirt over them.
Jesus talks about thorns. If you can find some thistles, plant one in your garden and place a couple of bean seeds right against its roots. A fast growing weed or grass will work well too instead of thistles. Fill the last corner with rich clean dirt; plant two seeds in it.
Place your spring garden container in the sun. Lightly water it. Pretend to be a bird and pull up the two seeds in the first section; or you can let your cat do the trick for you. Take good care of the other plants watering them when needed and giving them plenty of sunshine. Observe what happens. Compare your results to Jesus’ story.
“‘A farmer went out to his field to sow grain. As he scattered the seed on the ground, some of it fell on a footpath and was trampled on; and the birds came and ate it as it lay exposed. Other seed fell on shallow soil with rock beneath. This seed began to grow, but soon withered and died for lack of moisture. Other seed landed in thistle patches, and the young grain stalks were soon choked out. Still other fell on fertile soil; this seed grew and produced a crop one hundred times as large as he had planted.’
As he was giving this illustration he said, ‘If anyone has listening ears, use them now!’” Luke 8:5to 8 [The Living Bible]
Jesus compares seed in a garden to the truths we hear about God. Sometimes we don’t think about God’s Word when we hear it or we don’t understand it and it has no effect on us. Then God’s truths are like the beans that get torn out of the ground.
Maybe we don’t want to hear what God is telling us at the moment and we close our mind and our heart to him. God’s seed can’t take hold in our heart just like seeds can’t grow on a rock. There is no soil for the root to take hold.
If we are too busy to care about what God wants to tell us or are always thinking about other stuff that is more important to us we are like the corner of the garden with thistles. God’s Word can’t grow in our minds and hearts.
The soil God is looking for is good, soft, rich soil. We love God and want to hear what He has to say to us and then obey Him.
Sometimes we let our hearts be good soil and other times we may let our hearts be unfruitful where His truths can’t take hold and grow. If we let Him, God will give us understanding when we hear what He has to say and He will help us obey Him.
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I want to walk with you spiritually this year, inviting you to read the Bible through from cover to cover; from Genesis 1 all the way to Revelation 22:21. If that sounds too difficult for you and your kids, you can join in again after you have taken a break or join us for the days you’re up to it. I promise that you will understand the Bible in a much deeper way if you read it through from cover to cover in a year’s time.
Accept my challenge to read the Bible through in one year chronologically, including the Old and the New Testament.
Today read:
Deuteronomy 7:1-8:20
Luke 7:36-8:3
Psalm 69:1-18
Proverbs 12:1
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