Spring is approaching and many of us begin to think of gardens and growing things, using seeds to raise plants and harvest fruits and vegetables.

There are valuable spiritual lessons that can be understood in this context. In Matthew 15:13 Jesus said, "Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up." Thus, if we understand the basics of gardening or horticulture (and most of us do) we can draw the spiritual lessons.

Just take a look at the elements of raising a garden: seeds, roots, plants and fruit. They develop in that order.

In the Bible "seed" most often is used to express ideas about Christ. Genesis 1:12 tells us that plants yield seed after their own kind and we can understand that a person who sows evil will no more reap righteousness than a man who sows corn will reap beans. Jesus was an original seed, who died, was buried (planted) and rose to a new life. By replicating his life, we reproduce in like kind, just as in the natural world.

Baptism thus can be better understood. First Corinthians 15:35-44 says: "But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another... So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body."

Our efforts in evangelism are described as sowing. The well-known parable of the sower illustrates the point well. The seed is the word of God (Christ's life in black and white) and its reproduction is predicated on the type of soil in which it is sown and the reception it receives.

The wayside, hard-packed soil is comparable to a person whose heart is hardened and is not receptive. Like the pathway that won't allow the seed to take root, such hearts give the gospel no potential for growth. Stoney ground is like a person who initially becomes excited by the word, begins to accept it but gets offended be persecutions and without deep roots fades and dies. Other seed gets planted among thorns and weeds and while trying to grow is choked out by the competition. Many new Christian die this way, just as we lose plants in the garden if we don't do our weeding. Cares and concerns of this life can kill us. But in good ground that is cared for, cultivated, weeded and watered, the seed planted will reproduce after its kind.

When the Bible speaks in Second Peter 1:4 of Christians partaking of the divine nature it illustrates the entire pattern of spiritual reproduction that mirrors the pattern of physical reproduction.

A seed is part of the living fruit of a plant which died or becomes dormant, is buried in soil and rises in a new but similar form. When we die to our old way of living, are buried in baptism and rise to a new life, we follow that garden pattern.

The Bible also teaches us the spiritual law of sowing and reaping through the physical law. Galatians 6:7 says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Proverbs says if we sow iniquity we will reap iniquity. Second Corinthians makes the same point about sowing sparingly or bountifully.

The Bible also talks a lot about roots. It is roots which provide stability, feed the plant and generally keep it alive. Ephesians talks about being "rooted and grounded in love" as Christians and Paul told the Colossians they should be "rooted and built up in Him (Christ) and stablished in the faith."

Any discussion of this subject would fall short without mention of the fruit. It is the fruit by which we identify many plants. Of men, the Bible says, "Ye shall know them by their fruits." The fruit of the Spirit, and thus of the faithful Christian, is love. And you can tell a Christian by the love he or she displays. When there is no love displayed, there is no fruit, and like the fruitless tree it has no value and is cut down and burned (Matt. 3:10).

Finally, our fruit-bearing as Christians brings glory to our Father in heaven in the same fashion as a bountiful, beautiful crop in the home garden brings glory and recognition to the gardener who planted and carefully tended it.

A respected gardener attracts the novices who want to learn how to be as successful. Fruitful Christians will attract people who yearn to learn how to live successfully in hope of eternal life - which only the Christian will reap.

- Knollwood Reminders, March 8, 1987