Now that the plants are on their way to good growth and a promise of lots of produce it is time to put them out into their proper places outside. Here they will face the realities of the real world, the cooler nights, the other attacking insects, mildew, and other diseases. They will face the hot summer sun and neglect of water or maybe to much water. If cared for properly, soon there will be blossom's on many of these plants, or they grow into what they were intended to be. After a few more weeks there should be a plentiful harvest of fruit and vegetables.
One thing is for sure, to grow any kind of tree, shrub, flowers, or a garden full of vegetables, it takes time and it takes care. If you do not give your plants a chance to grow then they will not grow. Lifting up the soil or digging around new little seedlings to see if anything is happening can and will damage them. Poking around the plant can cause the roots to be disturbed to the point of stunting the growth or even killing the plant before it has a chance. Transplanting these young seedlings to soon can cause them to go into shock and hinder their growth. Patience and care are essential in the growth of your new garden, without it, you may be in for a big disappointment.
Some of the plants are going to need some pruning along the way. This is to put more energy into the parts of the plant that actually produce the fruit. There are some that will need pruned because of insect larvae on the leaves, mildew problems, to many leaves, etc. Pruning is good for plants and without it the rest of the plant will suffer. Time and care are essential to a garden that will produce good and healthy fruit for you.
Growing a garden reminds me of just how I get pruned all the time. As a Christian, or should I say a follower of Christ, it has taken me some time to get to the place I am at in my relationship with Jesus Christ. I committed my life to Him when I was sixteen years old and from that day on I have felt the use of the pruning shears clipping and pruning off the unneeded parts, such as emotional pains, the just not so nice stuff hanging on to my life. I have had small vines and limbs pruned that didn't seem like much at the time. Those small things were actually keeping me from growing taller and stronger so I could withstand some of the storms that came into my life. Then there were times when I felt the larger pruning tools severing a larger vine in my life, things that were producing a lot of leaves but had no potential in producing the good fruit that I was intended to produce. Then there was the healing ointments put on me that killed off some the mildews of my life, mildew that stunted the growth of the needed leaves that absorbed the Sons healing remedies. So many times I have felt the attack of those pest which were bent on devouring anything good in my life. They would try and lay their eggs in my soul and attempt to penetrate into the core of my being. It is good to say that my belief in Christ has grown stronger and the faith I have in the Son of God not only remains a part of my life but has grown stronger over the years.
Growth takes time and patience. You cannot expect to be at your full potential until you have been transplanted into good soil and the gardener has come along and pruned the unwanted vines and branches of your life that suck the energy and life from you. We can spend our lives growing so much foliage that the sunlight has a hard time getting into the center of the plant. Time is essential in growing a good garden, and time is essential in growing you into what God has put you here on this earth for. He has transplanted you from His heavenly kingdom into the kingdom on this earth. Now that you are here, let Him prune you and get rid of those things that hinder your relationship with Him. Let Him prune you so that you can produce the fruit that He intended for you to produce. You cannot grow well without being pruned, you cannot reach your full potential until you have let time take care of what is needed along the way. When you have been pruned, cared for and fed the right nutrients, God's Word, you will be a useful plant bearing much fruit that is appealing and beneficial to the Kingdom of God.
There is one very important aspect of any vine, it must remain attached to the branch. If it becomes detached from the branch it will die. There will be no hope for any kind of fruit to be produced from a vine that is detached from the main branch, for it is through that main branch that the vine receives its nutrition for growth and production of fruit.
Study these scriptures and see what God's Word says about pruning, attacks by the enemy, good soil, bad soil, and how time is essential for growth. Matthew 13:3-8; Matthew 13:18-23; Matthew 13:24-28; John 15:1-5; 2 Timothy 4:7-8; Acts 20:24; Ephesians 6:10-17; In Galatians 5:13-25 you will find a good description of what it is like either living detached from the vine or attached to the vine, the key is in Galatians 5:22, the producing of the good fruit of the Spirit is what we all must strive for, anything less will get pruned. My question to you then is this; how is your garden doing? Have you found the weeds choking out your life? Is your garden thirsty because the soil is not able to absorb the water? Are you being attacked by the insects of a worldly life that are bent on your destruction by devouring the foliage of your garden and causing your life to wither and die?
If you find yourself relating to the garden that is struggling to survive, or you seem to be weak and non productive in the things that matter, maybe you should call on the true gardener, the one who knows you best and understands exactly where to cut, prune, water, and feed you with the needed nutrients for a strong healthy, fruit producing garden. The Gardener you need to call on that understands you best is Jesus Christ, the one who loves you more than anything else, the one who gave His life so you can live.
If you are struggling right now, why not call out to Him. You can do this just by speaking His name, Jesus. He will hear you and He will listen. If you do not know Him, then cry out to Him and receive Him as your personal Lord and Savior, confess Him as the only begotten Son of God, then get a bible and start reading, in it you will discover just who God is and who His Son is. Ask Christ to come and take over your life, then step back and let Him be the gardener of your life who cares for you.
Before Christ left His disciples to return to the Father, He gave them some comforting words, words that were referring to the end of times before He returns to earth. These words can be applied to your situation even today. He said in Luke 21:28b "Stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Christ goes on to say in vs 29-30; "Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near." Is the summer near, are the leaves sprouting on your garden? If so, it may be time for some serious pruning to take place. As long as their is life in the plant it is capable of producing fruit, pruning is essential and time will reveal what is good and what needs to be pruned. Don't worry, the gardener is on His way.
If you have any questions or would like to make a comment concerning this message please feel free to do so. Also, in the scriptures listed above, if you do not have a bible handy, just hold your cursor over the scripture ref., this should bring up the scripture, if you need to read more then click on the word "more" found at bottom of the listing.
