Whose garden is it, anyway?

Published by christi on November 8, 2018November 8, 2018

I am more like Jonah than I often recognize.

He sat under a volunteer vine, glad of its shade and God’s apparent favor, waiting for God to “keep His word” and destroy the city of his enemies. How quickly he had forgotten his own experience of God’s rescue of him in the face of his rebellion and disobedience; he expected the same gracious God to have no compassion toward others.

I have a pomegranate bush in the front yard. It was loaded with fruit and expectations. Something happened to the fruit; the blossom ends turned brown and the fruit split open long before they were ripe. Disappointed, I let the fruit stay on the bush for at least the birds to enjoy. Finally, even the birds were not interested, so I gathered all the hollow, ravaged shells into a basket, leaving the single intact fruit on the bush to finish ripening, if it would.

The next day the fruit was gone! Stolen!

This is not the first time fruit has been taken from my yard. Every time, I feel sad, angry, disrespected and frustrated. I devise schemes to foil fruit thieves: rosebush hedges, electric fences, a large loud dog chained nearby, asking God to rain down fire… and then I am reminded of Who it is that causes food to grow from the earth, Who it is that gives me land to garden, Whose grace provides all I need, and Whose I am. 

I am not my own. I was bought with a price, the most costly substance in the universe: the precious blood of Jesus. How can I withhold the grace of forgiveness from others when such grace has been lavished on me? 

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment. Plus, check back later today for a bonus post!