By Pastor Don Schatz

God’s Green Thumb

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“The Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.”
Genesis 2:8 New Revised Standard Version

“They will say, this land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden.”
Ezekiel 36:35 New International Version

 Gardening can be hard work.  Spading, hoeing, weeding, amending the soil, planning and buying plants, and finally planting them.  Then fertilize, water, watch and enjoy.  Then weed, hoe, and you the get the picture.  But it is all worth it to the dedicated gardener.  Like our Lord.

God made humankind; he made a Garden in Eden; he put the two together.  Is Paradise weedless?  I do not know.  If there were weeds there, I bet even they were beautiful!  The witness of Scripture is that God intended us to live amid beauty.  Only Morticia Addams likes the “garden” we ended up in due to sin.

What type of garden are you in today?  Are you enjoying walking the paths?  Are the fragrances sweet, aromas of joy and contentment?  Do the colors bless your eyes with wonder?  Or are you looking at dead stalks, leafless shrubs and trees, a stark and barren wasteland?  Or perhaps today is somewhere in between.

God’s promise is to restore you to Garden living.  Ezekiel reminded ancient Israel of that.  What was wasteland, God turns into Eden.  Forgiveness, rebirth, divine love, mercy, grace–they are the stuff of Eden.  Look to the Lord, listen to him in his Word, be comforted in the company of the church.  In this way, God changes even the wasteland experiences and the lonely, barren places of life back into Eden.  The Lord is beautiful, and you are beautiful in him.  He planted a garden of love, grace and compassion in your heart.  Tend it by staying in the garden of God’s Word.  And take a walk in the beauty of God’s creation today.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado