Well, it’s April and the schizophrenic weather in Denver
continues. A few days of sunshine then a snowstorm, maybe some rain…As crazy as
it is, I have not been deterred in my quest to plant my vegetable garden.
During one of the warmer spells, I was able to get out and sow some of the cool
season veggies that laugh in the face of frost and icy temperatures. As I knelt
on the soil, I took the tiny seeds of the radishes, broccoli and spinach, as
well as the relatively gigantic peas, and laid them in the softened earth. I
watered the future plants and put down mulch to keep them warm feeling proud of
the environment I was giving them. I was looking forward to and anticipating
the life that would spring out of the ground due to my care.
About the same time, as many Coloradan gardeners know, I had
to start my delicate warm season veggies inside. I got out my peat pots and
potting soil and with the same attention I gave to my outdoor plants, I kindly
laid my tomato seeds into their temporary home. I watered them and put them
under the shop lights in the warm garage feeling proud of the environment I was
giving them.
After 10 days or so, I was able to see signs of life in my
outdoor garden; tiny radish sprouts were erupting through the dirt. They were
surviving and thriving in the midst of a harsh April storm without any help
from me. The tomatoes on the other hand, were nowhere to be found. I looked at
the pots for the next few days waiting for something, anything to happen. Finally,
I brought them inside for additional warmth and eventually I was the proud father
of 10 sprouts, roughly 50% of what I planted.
I suddenly had an epiphany, granted it shouldn’t have been
one, but it was none the less. I cannot create life! I can provide a perfect habitat
and environmental conditions, but I can’t make that seed grow. Try it some
time, put a seed on the table and tell it to grow. Cut off the seed coat and
coax the embryo out; it won’t work. The
same can be said of us. In Romans 12:1-2, Paul tells us that the one
responsibility we have is to “present our bodies as a living sacrifice...” We
are to be available to God, all in, without control. Why? So God can “transform
us by the renewing of our minds.” Only God has the power to change us, to give
us life. To think we can do this in our own power is ludicrous. Just like those
seeds I planted, the best I can do with my life is put it in front of God and
allow Him to grow me.
Paul helps the Galatians have this same epiphany in chapter
3 of his letter to them when he says “O foolish Galatians who has bewitched
you?...Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit are you now being
perfected in the flesh?” Like the Galatians, I am often foolish, thinking I can
live and grow without God. I need to be more like that seed, laying in the
dirt, letting God raise me into a healthy, productive creation.
By C Sampson
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