Transplant
I know that the best time to plant a garden is in the springtime. I grew up with parents who raised a big garden every year. I really like the fresh vegetables from the garden and I know first hand that it takes some labor to provide the right situation for the garden to thrive. The Lord is the One Who makes it grow. He brings the rain and provides the sunshine the seeds germinate and grow. I don’t know all the scientific facts behind the growth but I’ve seen it happen many times over the year.
A part of the growth process that blows my mind is how you can take part of one plant and break it off and plant it separately and it will grow independently of the plant it was taken from. The transplant part of gardening blows my mind a bit too. In Ezekiel, the Lord was handing out discipline to His people for their rebellion and He tells a story about transplanting that sounds a lot like the story of Jesus coming to earth. Check this out….
22 ‘“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. 24 All the trees of the forest will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.
‘“I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.”’ (Ezekiel 17:22-24 NIV)
This sounds like Jesus being transplanting among us and making a way for us to be forgiven and welcomed into God’s family. He came through the linage of the people of Israel, but made a way to transplant others into the family. I’m reminded every day that the Lord did something for me that I couldn’t do for myself. He made a way for me to have abundant life here on earth as I prepare for eternal life!
Pressing On!
Dwayne