The Gifted Gardener...

There's not been much time over the past week for me to continue writing these regular blog posts about biblical names of God. I've spent the past week in the eastern part of Germany (with snowfall almost every day) as I've been working with an exciting and interactive young leaders' seminar called the B2b. (It stands for, "Be the leader God wants you to be.") 

Our theme for this particular B2b is, "A fruitful life." At various times and in different creative ways during the week, we've reflected on the story that Jesus told in Luke chapter 8 about the sower, the seed and the four different kinds of soil. How can we as believers and as leaders be the kind of "good soil" that allows God to bring forth much fruitfulness in and through our lives? 

Yesterday morning, the B2b participants were learning how to facilitate cell group or home group meetings, and were practising it together in small groups that included a time of studying and applying the things that Jesus said about fruitfulness in John chapter 15. So it seems fitting that one of the names of God I've been meditating on this week is found in that chapter. Jesus told His disciples: "I am the true Vine and my Father is the Gardener." The Greek word is Geōrgos, and the passage goes on to outline some keys to living a fruitful life.

Although the name Geōrgos  is only used of God in that one passage of the Bible, the understanding of God being a Gardener, Farmer or Vineyard-Owner had been a very common one, right from Old Testament days. It's no accident that Genesis begins with God creating a garden, and Revelation ends with the tree of life again having a central place in the new Jerusalem.

One of the best known Old Testament parables of the vineyard is in the book of Isaiah, where God speaks through the prophet to describe all the love and care He put into caring for and protecting His vineyard.... but it still produced sour grapes, much to the heartache of the Gardener. The meaning of the parable is stated clearly in Isaiah 5: 7 - Israel is the vineyard and God is the Gardener. 

Later, at the end of chapter 28, Isaiah compares God to a Farmer who knows the perfect timing for every crop and would not treat any seed/grain in a harsh way that would damage or crush it. 

Isaiah 28: 29 says His plan is wonderful and His wisdom is amazing. He is a very caring and gifted Gardener.

Jesus continues this theme in the New Testament, telling several parables where God is described as the Lord/Master of the vineyard, and telling the well known story about the farmer sowing seed. Some decades later, Paul reminds the early believers (1 Cor 3: 9) that we are God's garden (geōrgion).

The application for our own lives is clear: God is the perfect Gardener, but we also have a part to play... 

If we want to be fruitful, we need to be "good soil." Good soil is described in Matt 13: 23 and Luke 8: 15 as people who: 

1) listen, 

2) remember, 

3) obey, and

4) persevere.

If we want to be fruitful, we need to remain attached to the Vine (John 15: 5) and not try to do our own thing in our own strength.

When these conditions are in place, when we're cooperating well with God the Gardener, our lives and our ministries will be more fruitful.