Garden Chores are Metaphors

The Holy Spirit slipped this catchy slogan in my mind recently, which seemed to summarize all my years of garden writing quite succinctly. With characteristic pun, no less! His poetic play on Words continues to charm us, and we have an insightful mantra to mull over as spring gardening reaches full swing: Garden chores are metaphors.

Yes, agree with me that the to-do of pulling all those persisting weeds, for example, takes on more significance when considering its spiritual parallels. I loved quoting Helen Rutherford Ely concerning this in my recent book, My Father is the Gardener:

“I always think of my sins when I weed. They grow apace in the same way and are harder still to get rid of.” Helen Rutherford Ely, A Woman’s Hardy Garden, 1903, quoted in My Father is the Gardener, page 165

How much more does pruning roses and grapevines, another need-to-do on the list, transform from humble chore to holy work while pondering God’s Word:

…while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  John 15:2 NIV

Preparing the soil, watering, cultivating, etc. are much more than work to take care of a garden, they present approaches to life, patterns for dealing with trauma and problems on a daily basis, and strategies for living a life of God’s love. Most of all, they can foster the mindset to connect constantly with the One who planted the first garden.

Garden Chores are Metaphors

Do you have garden tasks at hand (of course you do!)? Are chores consuming your after-work hours? I’m sitting outside as I write this, finding it hard to focus because of tree branches needing to be trimmed, autumn sage ready to be cut back, and poppies that should be populating vases indoors. Lord, have mercy! Let’s let the multitude of work to-do move us to these Scriptures to ponder while taking up pruners.

You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you. John 15:16 AMP

A voice of one crying out: Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness Isaiah 40:3 HCSB

I will establish a place for My people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. 2 Samuel 7:10 HCSB

The time will come when all the earth is filled, as the waters fill the sea, with an awareness of the glory of the Lord. Habakkuk 2:14 TLB

For I’ll pour water upon thirsty ground and streams on parched land. So will I pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing upon your descendants. Isaiah 44:2–3 ISV

Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Psalm 37:3 NASB

We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 1:2–3 NIV

You may sow your field for six years, and you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce for six years. But there will be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land in the seventh year, a Sabbath to the Lord: you are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard. Leviticus 25:2–4 HCSB

The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew. Zechariah 8:12 NIV

And if the root is holy, so are the branches. Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree, do not brag that you are better than those branches. Romans 11:16–17 HCSB

“… By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3:19 NLT

Dig deeper into each of these Scriptures in the devotions of My Father is the Gardener, Devotions in Botany and Gardening. Use the Index of Bible Verses beginning on page 227 to locate the Scripture in its devotion.

Rejoice! Garden chores are metaphors, and all we work out in the garden brings us close to God.

Ready for the Harvest

Why is it especially exciting to adopt the garden-chore life as a way of life? Dear gardeners, a harvest is coming! As desperate and dark as news headlines may seem, the truth is that there is a marvelous, appointed outpouring ahead; as gardeners, we can be positioned to usher in this holy moment because we have a working knowledge of how God works. And plenty of time on our knees to pray, as they say!

He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Luke 10:2 NIV

God compares His coming presence on earth to a “harvest.” I assume He is describing its effect to be like that moment when the full canopy of fruit on a tree turns sweet and luscious all at once; when the grain heads become tawny brown and bent over all across the fields; or when vines are abundantly loaded with long, dangling cucumbers. I keep an eye on our backyard crops almost daily, yet I am still stirred in amazement when the time arrives all-of-a-sudden to take up tons of asparagus spears or wade through brambles to pluck up plentiful, plump, deep-purple berries. We can sense similar awe-filled excitement in the following harvest Words:

I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. John 4:35-36 NIV

And don’t allow yourselves to be weary in planting good seeds for the season of reaping the wonderful harvest you’ve planted is coming! Galatians 6:9 TPT

In the same way the earth produces its crops and seeds spring up in a garden, so will the Lord Yahweh cause righteousness and praise to blossom before all nations. Isaiah 61:11 TPT

Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” Revelation 14:15 NIV

Closing Prayer

O Lord, thank You for the blessings You put in our lives, like hidden meanings and ultimate purposes in the day-to-day, sometimes mundane, work that we do. Thank you for being a loving Father who works, too! You work everything out for good (Romans 8:28), and You can work sorrowful sowing into bountiful joys. Open my eyes, O Lord, to see Your work in my work and grow me to trust Your ways. You are a gardener, after all! I want to be a part of Your harvest; lead me in Your to-do list. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The time is coming for me to gather people together from all over the world and they will come and gaze on my radiance. Isaiah 66:18 TPT

Photo Credits: ©Shelley S. Cramm

AMP notes Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

HCSB denotes Scripture quotations taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

NASB denotes Scripture quotations taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

NIV denotes Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

NLT denotes Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

TLB denotes Scripture quotations taken from The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. The Living Bible, TLB, and the The Living Bible logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers.

TPT denotes Scripture quotations taken from The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017, 2018, 2020 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com