Gardening 101 – Lessons I Learnt Working My Yard

It’s spring again and it’s time to do up the garden. I’m not a yard-work kind of guy, but in 2 weekends of trying to undo 8 months of weeds I learnt two very precious lessons which I’d like to share:

Lesson 1 – Good Soil Doesn't "Just Happen”
We need good soil to grow fruit-bearing plants. Good soil does not "just happen”. I tell people that my yard is an experiment in proving Darwinian truths, because according to the theory, left long enough to itself, my yard should turn into a well-trimmed lawn free of weeds, beautiful planter boxes full of tulips adorning the sides and even some vegetable plants well-tended that I might eat from. Alas, this is furthest from the truth. I’d have been happy if nothing grew, but left on its own, soil will always sprout every imaginable weed in time. My yard is a jungle where even weeds are fighting for space! Like our lives, if we are not vigilant to tend, we will soon be swamped with much care and pursuit of the wrong things, things that have no eternal value. Our Lord put it this way:

Matthew 13:22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. (NKJV)


Curiously, these cares and deceitful richness do not choke many of the other things in the short run – they may not choke church-going, they may not choke serving in ministry, they may not even choke our outward "Christian" appearance. They go for the jugular instead, and choke THE WORD. And the end result is UNFRUITFULNESS.


There is no status quo when we live our lives without the right focus. We must always cast all our cares on Him, for He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).


Good soil also does the following:

Luke 8:15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. (NKJV)


Hear the Word with a noble and good heart, keep it, then bear fruit with patience.

Lesson 2 – It's All in the Root System
In my limited gardening knowledge, I decided that the best course of action would be to turn over all the soil, exposing the roots of the weeds and everything else, to ready the soil for new grass seeds. I envisaged a yard of even, green turf I could relax on and enjoy by summer. Week One saw me with a spade turning over the soil. Yes, these weeds are history, I told myself.

Week Two – reality check. True, many of the larger, single-plant weeds did die, but on closer look, there were *many* tiny little weed-plants that were thriving on the clumps of soil I had upturned. None of these seemed significant on their own, but were obvious by their masses. One thing they had that the others did not have: An extensive root system. Immediately, I recall our Lord’s words again:


Matthew 13:20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. (NKJV)


The root system they had kept them alive, in spite of the soil being completely upturned. When persecution arises because of the Word, when we have to make hard decisions to believe what the Word says, we need to be rooted. Paul says this to the Ephesians:


Ephesians 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (NKJV)


Yes, we need to be rooted and grounded IN LOVE, not our own love, but in HIS love for us. Indeed the more we know of His love, the more we are filled with all His fullness.  And you know one other thing about these seemingly-insignificant weeds that were thriving? They were INTERCONNECTED! It’s like Paul saying how we should be rooted in His love and comprehend WITH ALL THE SAINTS! It was a lot harder to uproot a seemingly small weed that was connected with deep roots to all the rest of the same kind of weed! There’s no super-saint in the church – we all need each other and we all need to be rooted in His love together.

Well, two lessons from two weekends of yard work. Even if the weeds continue to grow, I’m happy to have learnt this. Just so my two weekends don’t go to waste, do share this note with your friends!