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There was nothing I could do about it. The temperature had reached the required level and I couldn’t avoid it any longer.
It was time to get the ‘Hancock Book of Gardening’ out and venture into the long grass and unspoilt wilderness and begin the process again. The ‘Hancock Book of Gardening’ has only one page with one instruction, chop down everything in sight and wait to see what happens next. So, armed this year with specially sharpened secateurs, vicious looking long-handled tree loppers and ever so sharp and extremely dangerous looking saw, I unlocked the back door and took the first step into the unknown, with my final words whispered to anyone who might care to listen, ‘I am going outside and may be some time.’
After years of experience, it is certainly not unknown, I know what happens next – it all grows back again! However, this year I am determined to make some progress and I am serious in my endeavours to bring some control one branch at a time. Yet lurking in the back of my mind I know that whatever I do, the garden will win again and it will take me a winter to recover before I venture out there once more to face humiliation and defeat. It makes me want to give up and just let it grow, to sit back and see what will happen with God in charge of my garden!
Yet that would be disobedient to God’s word. In Genesis 2:15, it says that, ‘The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.’ Disappointing really! There must be an easier way – paving slabs, concrete, flame-thrower, someone else to do it!
Sometimes my approach to gardening spills over into my approach to sharing the good news of Jesus. I see it as a battle that I am never going to win and no matter what equipment I go armed with or attitude I have, I somehow know that the person I want to tell it to is not going to believe again this year. Or, the person I’m going to invite to an event or activity is going to say, ‘no!’ again. But if I don’t do it, I’m being disobedient to the word of God. In Matthew 28:19 – ‘Go and make disciples of all nations....teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’
I wonder if you are like me. You would love someone you care about to discover Jesus Christ and live their life his way, but you’ve tried and tried over the years and even though you know you should try again, lurking in the back of your mind you’re certain that it still won’t happen. Perhaps one of your children who was brought up knowing all about Jesus but has now walked away, or a husband or wife, colleague or neighbour. It’s that time of year again and the battle is on, if only we were more skilled in arguing our case or had a clever answer to their same old questions or were equipped with the latest ‘weapon’ to defeat the enemy!
Blaise Pascal, the 17th century French mathematician, physicist, philosopher and all round smart person said this, ‘Men despise religion. They hate it and are afraid it may be true. The cure for this is first to show that religion is not contrary to reason, but worthy of reverence and respect. Next make it attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show that it is.’(Pensées 3)
So our task is not to battle and fight and see who comes out on top, we can’t argue people to believe the gospel, but our task is to live and act and speak in such a way that the people we care about will want what we have, will see the difference it makes, will hope that it is true. Then we can tell them all about Jesus, who is after all, the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Don’t go out there expecting to lose the battle, I’ll let you know how I get on with the gardening, in fact don’t see it as a battle. Sharing the truth about Jesus is an act of love that reflects the greatest act of love, Jesus Christ dying on a cross for the world. It is true (Luke 24:34) so get out into the garden (the world that God has created) and get working. There are people out there who need you to show them exactly that, it is true!
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