Meeting God in the Garden
Number 1
PRUNING AND WEEDING THE SOUL
Whenever I prune vines, I can't help but think of John 15, in which Jesus says, "I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit is pruned away. Every branch that does bear fruit is nipped and trained so that it produces even more abundantly...I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever preservers in Me, and I in him, shall yield much fruit..." (my paraphrase)
These words are comforting to me (and maybe that explains my love of pruning) because they speak of a peaceful, loving God who is gently training me and directing my growth. He knows what I can be and should be and is working on creating beauty and a high yield. I can actually picture the Father clad in boots and hat and gloves giving a vine a good snip while humming some happy song. This image cheers me.
But that is not the only gardening image that crosses my mind while I work in my yard. Whenever I pull weeds I think about Revelation 14:19, which tells about the end times in a vivid scene of an angel mowing a dying garden:
"And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God."
This is not a scene of peace, comfort or growth. It is a terrifying, furious scene of ripping and tearing, of crushing and liquefying some very last meager fruits. I picture it in shades of red and black. The angel is using his implement to rip even the roots of the vines out of the soil. There is so little to harvest that he is not even trying to pick it; he is throwing the vines, roots, fruits and all into the press. The garden is done. The season is over. No more growth or ripening is expected. The frost is on its way. The only thing left is the bitter wrath of crushing.
Although this is terrifying, I find some comfort in knowing that I will never experience that kind of violent harvest. Jesus Christ is my savior, and I am spared the rage of God. But this verse also fills me with distress for all those people that will not be spared. It is the future of those who are left behind in the tribulation period. Since we expect that to happen at any moment, it could be that an awful lot of my loved ones and acquaintances will experience that fury that God reserves for those that have no relationship with Him.
When I weed, I have to ask myself if I am doing my part in introducing people to Jesus. I have to ask myself if I behave in a way that is becoming and attractive. Will the people that God has put in my path embrace Him or disregard Him because of me? Often I have to admit that I am not doing all I can and should be doing. I long to be a better evangelist.
Then I realize that this is part of the pruning process. God is reminding me of the mowing so that I renew my heart toward the unsaved. I grow in the direction of love and compassion. It is a process that I welcome with all my heart
Lydia S. Hart
Copyright 2000 Foot of the Cross Publications
Used by permission
e-mail:
lifewords@hotmail.com 
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