Lessons from a Garden 9

Lesson 9: Care for the First Shoots

Almost every day after planting seeds in our vegetable garden my wife, Shirley, and I would check the ground to see if anything was growing. It seemed to take forever before anything green poked through the earth. And then one day it happened. Shirley came running to me shouting, "Something is grown in our garden!" I checked, and sure enough, a row of little green shoots was peeking through the ground...and then another...and another. Our garden had begun! It was now our responsibility to care for these tender shoots and help them to grow.

In your life too there are probably "little green shoots." By that I mean people who are new to the faith, people who have only recently begun a relationship with Jesus. They may be older in years, but as Christians they are "babes in Christ." Or there may be children in your life, whether part of your family or your friends' families. They also are tender shoots even if they don't yet know Jesus. If God has placed such people in your life it is because God expects you to help with nurturing them. Do all you can to help these "little ones" to grow in their relationship with the Lord.

Mark 6:14

He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.