Lessons from a Garden

Lesson 5: Cultivate Vegetables

Vegetables are practical plants. They are necessary for life and health. Growing your own can save you money, which may be the real reason I wanted to grow them instead of flowers. The truth is that both my wife and I like the idea of going to our vegetable patch and harvesting our own, home-grown food. We chose mostly root crops—carrots, beets, turnip, and radishes—but also some veggies on the vine—tomatoes and beans. And some green onions and lettuce, which I don’t know how to classify. It was sheer delight for the both of us when we harvested our first radishes and lettuce for a salad after only a few weeks.

Perhaps you would like your Christian life to be all roses and tulips, full of color and pleasure. While those days will come, there is also a practical side—the vegetable side— to our faith. Enjoying pot luck suppers at church, dancing to praise and worship songs, and watching kids perform in a biblical drama are the flowery parts of the Christian life. The real meat and potatoes parts of our faith are the day to day things that build us up spiritually. These are things like daily prayer and mediation on the Word of God, participating in a serious Bible study group, and being part of a Christian ministry team. Enjoy the flowers, but don’t pass over the vegetables.

James 1:22

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.