When my adult children were younger, they swam for a club in central Indiana. One of their coaches decided to use a metaphor to motivate them. He asked them to think of their mind as a garden and to look around for weeds---thoughts that were getting in the way of success in the pool. He continued by instructing them to pull those weeds because they were destructive to their goals and aspirations. How pertinent that concept is when discussing the word cultivate. If we look at our lives as a garden and God as the Master Gardener, we can grasp the life-long process of tending the garden, preparing the soil of our mind, fostering growth, and devoting time to its development.

Imagine a garden. There’s rhyme and reason to a well-tended garden. The goal is to train the eye towards a focal point (floral arrangement, fountain, staircase, bridge, statue, waterfall), or a path etched right into the garden itself, providing direction. Either way, there is a purpose to the garden whether for its pure beauty, meandering paths, or focal points. The symbolism to our lives as a garden is profound. Our lives should point to Jesus Christ, providing direction into a relationship with Him.

Here's the growth opportunity in this conversation; gardens don’t just happen. Left to its own device, it will become overgrown and chaotic, losing its former beauty. The plants’ growth is stifled due to lack of the pruning process. Weeds spread like a virus, overwhelming the plants that were once productive and beautiful. Without the gardener, it ceases to be a thing of beauty and purpose. The need for Someone to tend our life, weeding and pruning, and fostering growth is obvious. Let’s allow the Master Gardener to cultivate within us an environment for each of us to bloom.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”

John 15:1

(Excerpt taken from Daily Dose of Intention: 365 Days of Purpose by Shagae Jones)

Cultivate the Garden of Your Life