“In simple humility, let our Gardener, God, landscape you with the word, making a salvation garden of your life.” (James 1:21 MSG)
I don’t quite have the words to describe the impact this paraphrased verse has on my soul when I read it. I can see the frame my loving Father, bent over the common ground of my heart, intent on fashioning something beautiful and life-giving from it’s recesses.
He is diligent and intensely purposeful. It’s dirty work. He tills and fertilizes. He plants and coaxes. He waters and prunes and plucks patiently. He waits for buds to appear, slowly giving way to blooms and eventually, with the right mix of sun and rain and perseverance, fruit bursts forth.
He’s not quite in His holy cultivation. Oh no, He sings. His robust voice swells and dips and draws the soul out of hiding. He labors over us in song, with purest love and brightest hope.
We are either good ground or not: all dependent on the posture of our heart. Humility determines this posture; will we bow our head to the holy Gardener with His sharp-trimming Word? Or will we resist in pride and create jagged edges and stubborn stumps? If we allow Him, the Word will shape us into something stunning, something wholly indicative of the Gardener’s glory.
“You’ll be a well-watered garden…” (Isaiah 58:11 MSG)
Dear Lord, hep us in this essential area of humility. We see You, working tirelessly over the soil of our souls. May we appreciate Your steady investment in such a paltry patch of dirt. May we respond with gratitude and collaboration, delighting in Your plans for the beauty and bounty of our lives. We willing submit to Your Word’s shaping. We long to grow and bloom and produce fruit for Your glory. Amen.