Gardening is similar to raising our children. Have you ever compared the two, gardening and raising children ? Recently I compared the two, gardening and raising children. It came to mind of how their are a lot of similarities in the two.
First, life comes from a fertile seed, that God has provided, in both the garden and in our children. If you think about it you will see the truth in this. Life of all kind comes from God and from God alone. A seed has to be fertile in order for it to grow. The seed is planted and starts to grow. Whether it is a child or a plant growing in one's garden, it needs nourishment and love to continue to grow. The babe in the womb gets it's nourishment from it's mother, while the seed in the garden gets it's nourishment from the ground, air, and rain. All, of this nourishment, is ultimately provided by God.
As the seed/babe grows the time comes for it to enter into the world. For the seed that is the breaking forth from the pod/kernel through the ground into the light of day. For the babe it is be birthed into the light of day from it's mother's womb. Neither of these would have been brought forth from their cocoon had it not been for the Lord Father God, the Creator of all life. So now we have new arrivals in the world, be it within our family or within the garden, so to speak.
These new ones need more nourishment, also they need love, and tender care in order to continue to grow as God designed them to grow. At this point, in the early development we, as man, can help determine which way our child/our garden will develop towards. This is where our influence starts to have a hand in things. We could cause a good outcome or we could cause a harmful outcome. Here is where we have to fully trust and rely upon God for all of us who are God's family of children.
If we are the Lord's we will tend to, care for, love, provide nourishment to and for, and educate ( for our children) that which God has entrusted into our care. Our children have been entrusted to us by the Lord just as our gardens have been entrusted to us by the Lord. When we choose to follow God/Jesus we will teach our children of the Lord, His Word, His Grace, His forgiveness. We will take them to Church with us, we will walk a good walk and example before them, as our children will pattern themselves after us, their parents. We teach our children what they know. Just as our garden that has been entrusted to us by the Lord. We are to tend it. Weed it, water it, fertilize it, harvest it, share it and prepare it for later use. If we are good stewards to and for the Lord we will honor that which He has entrusted into our care whether it be our children or our garden or whatever it is that God has entrusted to us.
Now on the other hand, if we do not serve God we serve self/the devil. When those who serve the devil(the world/self) raise their children they teach them of the world( the devil and his ways). The children are taught filth and immorality, depravity and so much lack of discipline. The children are lost, adrift on a sea of sin because the parents do not truly Love their children. They teach their child to serve self(the devil/the world). That is not true Love. For if you love your child you will teach them of the Lord for by not teaching your child of God you are condemning them to eternity in the Lake of Fire. You will be to blame for your child's sin as you did not care enough to tell them the truth of God/Jesus. The child will not prosper as you, the parent, have seen fit to condemn it from the beginning by not supplying it with the proper nourishment and love that it needed to grow as God intended for it to grow.
The same comparison, children and the garden. If you do not tend to, nourish and love your garden, weeds will choke out the plants. The plants will become twisted and distorted as they try to seek for what they need, but it is just beyond their grasp because no one cared enough to tend to them or help them get what they needed in order to thrive, survive and become productive. The garden was not loved. It was not truly cared for. It was within the caretakers grasp and responsibility to provide it with the proper nourishment and all it needed to survive, yet the caretaker chose to not provide the proper tools, nourishment, love, and care to allow it to thrive, survive and be productive.
This is what happens, all too often, in life. God entrusts children to parents. the parents do not truly Love their children as the results give testament of the parents. The Bible tells us to raise up a child in the way we would have them to go. Do you want your child to go to Heaven or to Hell ? Think about that question wisely. God has given us the means to teach our children of Him and the right/good way of living for us and them to be productive, caring, loving people. The way you treat your spouse is teaching your child how to treat their future spouse. The way you treat anyone is how you are teaching your child to treat others. The way you live your life, be it for the Lord, attending Church, Bible study, daily prayer, doing service for and to the Lord, living your life for the Lord and not for self , or be it for the devil(the world) drinking, viewing pornography, using fowl/offensive language, lying, fornication, adultery, living a life of sin and damnation, is exactly what you are teaching your children and telling them it is okay to live their life in that manner. If you truly love your child you will care about it's soul and whether it will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire, in eternal torment and damnation, or in Glory/Heaven with Jesus Christ.
As the garden prospers with love, proper nutrition, and proper care, so too do our children with the same good provisions prosper. But a garden left untended or ill cared and provided for, so goes the children who lack the proper nourishment, love, care, attention and teachings of the Lord. Take the time to share God/Jesus with your children/child and let them know that you truly love and care for them. Help them to flourish and grow to become prosperous in the Lord. Without God/Jesus in our lives we are all lost and eternally doomed to eternal torment and suffering. Thankfully God/Jesus is the only way. Accept Him into your life and teach of Him to your children. Show your children what true Love is. Show them Jesus Christ.
| Proverbs 22:6 6)Train up |
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