God the Gardener
I have always enjoyed plants and appreciated their beauty, but they haven’t always reciprocated the feeling. Do you know how many I’ve had to uproot over the years? More than I care to remember. So when I came across Matthew 15:13-14, it caught my attention:
13 Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, 14 so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”
Again, I’m a (mostly) trying to reform my black thumb and I am so thankful God is the master gardener that we can learn from His example. In the scriptures, we can see the heart of the Gardener. He is intentional, makes plants flourish, and He loves His plants so He takes great care of them. When His plants are not doing well, He either transplants them or uproots them.
I’ve struggled to connect and recognize God as a Father, but reading that God is a gardener was key to me realizing that I got my love of gardening from my Father in Heaven. That the “nature” broke through “nurture”. I love that we can share this connection with God.
A quick search on YouVersion bible produced these examples of God gardening.
Genesis 2:8-9 NLT
Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. The LORD God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden, he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Numbers 24:6 NLT
They spread before me like palm groves, like gardens by the riverside. They are like tall trees planted by the LORD, like cedars beside the waters.
Psalms 92:13 NLT
But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted to the LORD’s own house. They flourish in the courts of our God.
Hosea 2:23 NLT
At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself. I will show love to those I called ‘Not loved.’ And to those I called ‘Not my people,’ I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’ And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’”
Jeremiah 31:28 NLT
In the past I deliberately uprooted and tore down this nation. I overthrew it, destroyed it, and brought disaster upon it. But in the future I will just as deliberately plant it and build it up. I, the LORD, have spoken!
Ezekiel 17:22-24 NLT
22“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take a branch from the top of a tall cedar, and I will plant it on the top of Israel’s highest mountain. 23 It will become a majestic cedar, sending forth its branches and producing seed. Birds of every sort will nest in it, finding shelter in the shade of its branches. 24 And all the trees will know that it is I, the Lord, who cuts the tall tree down and makes the short tree grow tall. It is I who makes the green tree wither and gives the dead tree new life. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do what I said!”
Amos 9:15 NLT
I will firmly plant them there in their own land. They will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God.
Isaiah 60:21 NLT
All your people will be righteous. They will possess their land forever, for I will plant them there with my own hands in order to bring myself glory.
Matthew 13:37 NLT
Jesus replied, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed.
Jeremiah 18:7-10 NLT
7 If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, 8 but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. 9 And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom, 10 but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would.
Proverbs 16:28 NLT
A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends.
Jeremiah 12:17 NLT
But any nation who refuses to obey me will be uprooted and destroyed. I, the LORD, have spoken!”
Jeremiah 12:14 NLT
Now this is what the LORD says: “I will uproot from their land all the evil nations reaching out for the possession I gave my people Israel. And I will uproot Judah from among them.
Jeremiah 12:2 NLT
You have planted them, and they have taken root and prospered. Your name is on their lips, but you are far from their hearts.
Proverbs 2:22 NLT
But the wicked will be removed from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted.
John 15:1-8 NLT
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
Many other verses talk about literal gardening or using gardening examples, such as Jesus’ parables. I tried to narrow it down to God’s actions or words but included a few other examples.
Is this the first time you’ve thought about God being a gardener? Let me know!
Be sure to check out my post on 6 changes to connect to God more if you are struggling to.
Blessings,
Heather