LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, June 13, 2023

Several years ago, I worked very hard to put in a garden. My location choices were very limited because of the trees in my back yard that provide shade to most areas, but I found a spot that delivered the best afternoon sun. I built a framework so the bed of fresh dirt could be leveled on the grassy slope. I put up a fence to protect the vegetables from the local bunnies. I brought in composted black dirt for soil fertility. I was ready to plant my crops.

As things started to grow, I was impressed. Small sprouts quickly turned into lush plants that had every indication of bearing lots of fruit.  But as the season progressed and the plants kept growing larger, the fruit the plants bore was minimal. It was a huge disappointment. I had the biggest tomato plant ever, but only a few tomatoes. The beans were a bust. The peas were pathetic. And the zucchini were literally squashed. I had the biggest zucchini plants ever and they bloomed profusely, but only one out of every twenty blooms produced a green gourd.

As I reflected on what went wrong, I was stumped. I prepared the soil. It is very fertile, made from compost. Maybe it was too fertile and is just produced top growth – I don’t know. I planted in the right places. There was plenty of rain that summer. What went wrong? How come we can do everything right and still not get blessed with a bountiful harvest?

That last question really hit me because it applies to more than just gardens. It teaches us an eternal principle that God wants us to know. Here it is – Our plans and preparations are meaningless and unproductive unless God produces the fruit. And God won’t produce fruit if He is not our priority.

Isaiah 17:10-11  “You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines,though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain.”

Here’s the truth of the matter: unless we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ and building our lives on the Solid Rock, everything we do will ultimately fail and be destroyed. It doesn’t matter how technologically advanced we become. It doesn’t help that we do all the scientific research to increase productivity. It makes absolutely no difference that we have all the administrative and organizational skills to plan for every possible contingency. If our life isn’t centered on Jesus Christ, and if our hope and strength aren’t in Him alone, all we are doing is feeding futility not fertility.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is in the little book of Hosea. It says, “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.”

So get out your spiritual roto-tiller (some of us might need roto-rooters), dig up the hard ground of your heart, and plant the seeds of his productive priorities. When you do, the harvest is guaranteed.

Pastor John