I worked in my gardens yesterday. Oh, it was lovely to feel the warmth of the sun, and to see green plants coming back to life after a long, cold winter. You know, digging in the dirt is always a contemplative time for me. It often puts my mind on Spiritual truths. Life after death…hmmm, it reminds me of the Bible reading plan I’m reading right now about Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter. One day’s reading really made me consider something I’m not sure I’ve ever thought on – it was about two gardens.
The garden of Eden is where sin began, when all humanity was plunged into the darkness and guilt before a holy God. There in that garden, God made a promise to put enmity between Satan and man. Jesus would come and crush Satan’s head one day.
Then another garden scene happened 2,000 years later when that promise was fulfilled. It was the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed and Roman soldiers close in on Him. Jesus was loving those who were set on murdering Him. Then He prays, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done. Sin’s debt was paid on that cruel cross. At first it seems His plan has failed, and all hope was lost, until Sunday morning.
Another garden comes onto the scene as the women come to the garden tomb to anoint Jesus’ body with spices, but find the stone rolled away from the door and an angel announced to them that Jesus had risen, as He said! All hope was restored at that wonderful news! Jesus had conquered sin, death and hell by His sacrifice and His resurrection! I imagine the joy in the hearts of those women as they left the Garden that day! Their hope was restored! Their Joy was abounding.
Oh what a difference Jesus’ life and death made in those gardens…for my life and yours!
Those are some awesome Garden thoughts!
As you dig in your flower beds this spring, let your mind go to those wonderful happenings. Has Jesus made a difference in your life? If you don’t know Him, He’s calling out your name before the Father, desiring that you would trust His work on the cross as the payment for your sin. If He is your Savior, praise Him while you work for the way He turned your destiny around…in the garden.
RefreshHer 