We admire well-tended lawns with beds of flowers and shady arbors. We appreciate the clipped shrubs and enjoy the cool shade.
How fortunate to have a green thumb, we exclaim, giving credit for all the hard work – and also saying it’s a gift we do not have.
We’re suggesting it must come easy to certain people, and the rest of us couldn’t do it if we tried.
When we struggle with following God’s Word, we fall back on the same excuse. It’s easier for some people. They are natural Christians. If only we could do it as well.
God says that’s nonsense. It’s all a matter of following the Master Gardener’s tips if we want to lead a well-tended Christian life and provide shady arbors of respite to the worn and weary who walk at our side.
Here are 8 Tips from the Master Gardener found in John 15:1-5.
Tip No. 1:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.”
We can’t choose just any plant from the nursery. The only one that provides true fruit is Christ.
Tip No. 2:
“Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away.”
Dead branches inhibit the growth of the vine. They must be removed.
Tip No. 3:
“Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
Even the most productive branches must be shaped for the best harvest.
Tip No. 4:
“Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.”
Our pruning shears are the Word of God and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.
Tip No. 5:
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”
We must support each other in our Christian walk so that branches don’t break off in the wind.
Tip No. 6:
“I am the vine; you are the branches.”
The true source of our lifeblood flows from Christ. We are nothing without him.
Tip No. 7:
“Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.”
We are a productive Christian when every thought and every moment of our day is rooted in Christ.
Tip No. 8:
“For apart from me you can do nothing.”
If our connection to Christ becomes severed, we are fit only to be cast aside.
Gardening is a skill. There’s nothing magical about it. If we follow the rules, we will create a garden paradise.
Our Christian walk is the same. When we follow Christ’s tips, we will produce fruit in him.
When we are grafted onto Christ, he becomes our source of strength.
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Code: FGO.G.18.19a.vp.esv