Reclaiming the garden

Working in a church, it’s my yearly delight to sneak into the back of the sanctuary and observe our beautiful children as they worship wholeheartedly at Vacation Bible School.

By the third day they know all the words to the praise music and gyrate wildly to the beat. They are totally acceptant of God’s word, trust him to their marrow and praise him openly.

No wonder scripture says we need to be like little children to enter the kingdom of God. These little cherubs are living the kingdom right now, still residing in the Garden of Eden.

Simultaneously this week, I’ve been ruminating on the parable of the seed falling on four types of ground. You know the one: “A farmer [God] went out to sow his seed [meaning God’s word]. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

“Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

“Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.

“Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying 30, 60, or even a hundred times.” (Mark 4:3-8)

Only 25 percent of the seed falls on fertile ground and produces fruit. How come 75 percent of us are missing the message?

We’ve all heard that Satan prowls around seeking to destroy mankind, but in what form? Do really think he struts around with horns and a red suit?

No, he is much too subtle and wily. He lures us away with objects and trinkets. Sometimes we are so exhausted from working for them we tend to skip a Sunday church service now and then.

Sundays were once relegated (as a commandment from God) as a day of rest and worship. Now it has become the only day to catch up on all the chores we can’t squeeze in during the week. Then to escape the chaos we run to a movie where we make rich those who promote a modern day Sodom and Gomorra as acceptable alternative lifestyles.

Mother Teresa said, “We obtain grace in proportion to our sanctity, our fervor, and to our degree of union with our Lord.”

It made me realize that in order to reclaim the garden for myself and be fertile ground like our VBS kids, the Word of God has to sink deeply into my soil (pronounced “soul”) and I have to strive to live a Godly life – that includes my sanctity (holiness of life and character), fervor (where do my actions and passions lie?) and union with God (how much time do I spend with him in my hurried life?).

I believe just like Adam and Eve, at Satan’s beckoning we all leave the garden when we accept the desires of the world and choose sin over God’s precepts. But that’s not the end of our story.

Jesus came to light our path back to righteousness, promote honor, obedience to his Father and purity of mind and heart. In other words, Jesus came to show us the way to back to the garden (AKA heaven).

He gave his life so we would become fertile ground united as God’s own children who understand through scripture how to live our lives producing good fruit while teaching others why faith matters.