“Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.’ And it was so” (Gen. 1:11, NIV).
I wonder what it would have been like to watch the bleak, barren, desolate planet suddenly softened with
spidery ferns,
exotic orchids,
weeping willow trees,
carpeted fields of grass,
until it was breathtakingly beautiful!
What does the land of your life look like? Is it drab and devoid of the real beauty of joy and happiness? Is it desolate from lack of love? Perhaps it is even ugly because of the scars of sin and suffering. If God, through the power of His Word, transformed Planet Earth into something that was beautiful, He can do the same for you. Ask Him for an extreme make-over!
The firm “click” of the Gardener’s pruning shears can be heard in our lives when . . .
we are confined to a hospital room,
we are fired from a job,
we are moved to a new place, surrounded by strangers,
we are isolated in a new job, surrounded by unbelievers.
Your purpose, and mine, is to bring glory to God. Jesus reiterated this purpose as He concluded His challenge to the disciples to be fruitful in service: “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
You will not bear much fruit unless and until you submit to the cutting and clipping of the Gardener. Therefore, when you resist His “gardening” in your life, what you are really doing is refusing to glorify God and therefore aborting the very purpose for your existence. Solemn thoughts, aren’t they?
The crowning jewel of Creation was man himself. He was created for a distinct purpose. If the purpose is lived out, life is fulfilling. If the purpose is rejected or ignored, life will never be what it was meant to be.
A light bulb is a simple glass globe. If placed on a desk or table, it is meaningless as well as useless. But if it is fitted into a lamp and plugged into a power source, it fulfills its purpose for existence, taking on meaning as a source of light that is useful for daily living.
Apart from the Creator’s purpose, you and I are like a light bulb lying in a meaningless, useless state. We need to fit into the Creator’s original design, plugging into the power source – our relationship with Him – if our lives are to be what they were meant to be.
All around us we see lives collapsing with broken hearts and broken homes and broken hopes – with shattered minds and shattered emotions and shattered bodies. What has gone wrong? The foundation on which the majority of people are building their lives is cracked and flawed.
The Bible tells us there is only one foundation for individual or national life that will last, regardless of the crisis or pressure, and it is the foundation of Jesus Christ: “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
Jesus Christ never changes. (Heb. 13:8) He will never leave you nor forsake you. (Heb. 13:5) Nothing can ever separate you from His love. (Rom. 8:35-39) So make sure you are prepared for the storms of life because your life is built on the Solid Foundation of Jesus Christ.
Is there someone who comes to your mind as being totally incompatible with you? A parent? Or sibling? Or spouse? Or roommate? Or child? Or supervisor? Or employer?
Have you felt incompatibility was reason enough to sever the relationship? Or at least to avoid it at all costs? Yet there are times when we have no option but to live with or work with or be thrown together with someone who totally contradicts our own personalities and natures. At such times the relationship can become so strained that we can even perceive the incompatible person as an enemy. But there is another way . . .
Jesus focused His disciples on His way of dealing with incompatibility. The key is to make our relationship with Jesus the priority of our lives. Jesus reminded His disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”
