How Does Your Garden Grow?

     Often when people discover that I live out in the country on some acreage, they ask if I have a large garden. The answer is that I not only don't have a large garden, I don't even have a small garden. This year I don't even have a tomato plant in a flower bed.

     There are several reasons for this. One of the reasons is that I am busy with many other projects, so I don't have time for a garden. Another reason is that I am lazy, so I don't have much interest in a garden. But the most important reason is that the soil at our place is so lacking in nutrients and moisture-holding humus until even hard work and much time results in little reward.

     I know from past experience that soil can be improved. I once worked on a small plot of coastal "gumbo" until it was good soil. At first, I could hardly dig it. When I did manage to turn a spadeful over, it became like a rock. Over a period of a couple of years of reading, asking questions, and amending the soil with all sorts of things, I finally had a really nice place to plant seed. Then we moved.

     Jesus knew the importance of good soil. He told a parable about sowing seed in different kinds of soil. He described four types of soil, but only one type produced a harvest: the good soil. What kind of soil was the good soil? It was prepared. Unlike the soil of the pathway, it had been broken. Unlike the rocky soil, it had depth. Unlike the thorn-filled soil, it had been cleansed. No wonder it produced abundantly.

     There are a number of factors that influence the response we make to the Word of God, but one of the most important has to do with how carefully we prepare ourselves to receive that Word. If we do little in the way of preparation, usually little result is seen.

     I once observed a lady "prepare" a rock garden. She scraped the grass off at ground level. She put some edging around the area. She filled it with several inches of gravel. Then she dug small holes here and there to stick plants in. But she never got to enjoy her rock garden. Before you could say "Johnson Grass," it was as high as an elephant's eye, and the garden was gone.

     Most of us would think that lady was foolish because she didn't make proper preparation. But how many of us prepare our hearts as poorly as she prepared her garden, then wonder why we don't get anything out of reading the Bible or listening to the pastor's sermon?

     How does your garden grow?