The Master Gardener

My God's the Master Gardener
Who created the world.
He fancied flowers, said His say,
By which His dreams unfurled.
The grasses grew, the bushes bloomed,
The Spirit moved the leaves.
The Gardener fathered the fruit
And He supplied the seeds.

The spot where You first walked with man
Was in Your good garden
Until the man in Your image
Made his heart to harden,
And so the thistle and the thorn
Became his companion,
His constant bane, his breathing curse
Where he should have dominion. 

And then when the season was right
You chose to walk again
Among the trees, branches, and leaves
And to commune with men.
And like a seed that falls and dries
You hung and wilted low
Upon Your tree, with sour wine,
Upon a hill fallow.

You deigned the season be so fixed.
You were buried in the ground.
While time elapsed, the world stood still
'Til one day You were found.
Mary in part mistook You not.
A gardener You are,
And You began to grow again,
Fruit Whose fulness feels far.

But You have the seasons so fixed
As Gardener to reign.
Your stewards plant, servants water,
And You give growth again.
Thorn-sided shoots will produce fruit
“Til You call through the leaves
And by Your word breath in the best
Of Your harvesttime sheaves.

Day 14

⁶May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
    like showers that water the earth!…
¹⁶ May there be abundance of grain in the land;
    on the tops of the mountains may it wave;
    may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
    like the grass of the field!
¹⁷ May his name endure forever,
    his fame continue as long as the sun!
May people be blessed in him,
    all nations call him blessed!

¹⁸ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    who alone does wondrous things.
¹⁹ Blessed be his glorious name forever;
    may the whole earth be filled with his glory!
Amen and Amen! (Psalm 72:6, 16-19).

I’ve told my children as I tuck them in at night that God made them beautiful and has big plans for them. My daughter would ask me what, and I would tell her that He has already prepared good works for her to do her whole life (Ephesians 2:10), and that what else He has planned for us is so wonderful that we can’t even imagine it (1 Corinthians 2:9). The works He has planned for them are the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22). “But,” I would warn them, “you have to stay close to Jesus.” What happens when you pick a flower? It wilts and dies eventually. Likewise, you can’t do anything separated from God (John 15:5), and He can’t grow you and make you beautiful and make you grow your fruit unless you stay connected to Him. Like children, we can cling to Him too.

I’d encourage you to read all of Psalm 72 today if you can. May you depend on God like the grass does the dew, and may you be like a head of grain, a fruit, and a beautiful flower grown by Him.

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