INTERMISSION
MAY 17, 2023
GENESIS 2:4-9
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
JOHN 15:1-8
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Genesis 2, says that God “planted a garden in Eden to the east.” God, the gardener. Here is one of the first passages in the Bible where we are introduced to who God is, and God is not a warrior or a judge or even a sovereign king/ruler, but first, a gardener, a nurturer of life, protector and planter, a designer, keeper, and pruner concerned with life’s flourishing.
Have you considered what it might mean to you to recognize God as a gardener?
When I survey this vast world, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars and all that you have established, what are mortals that you are mindful of us, human beings in whatever state of despair or joy or smallness that you care for us with the loving eye of a gardener? (based on Psalm 8)
For me, God as gardener, reveals a creator whose deepest concern is life’s flourishing.
You see this little intermission in our devotions that have talked so much about hard places, anxiety, mental struggles, dark places, is meant for all of us to turn our eyes to our creator and recognize that in our journey, whatever messy stuff there may be, God cares for you and me, like a gardener cares for those precious seeds and plants that produce beauty and the food we so enjoy. The deep desire for flourishing.
What sort of response stirs in your heart when you think of God carefully tending to you as a gardener would tend to his plants?
I Invite you to offer this prayer today as you consider God’s gardening work in your life.
Creator God, garden my life — turn it over, cultivate it, and make it ready for gospel seeds to take root. And in quiet darkness let the gospel do its work, slow but powerful, stirring up life in my heart, increasing joy, strengthening all your graces until shoots of new life rise and good fruit bursts forth on the branches of my life, a life beautiful for you and a blessing to others. Amen.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Genesis 2, says that God “planted a garden in Eden to the east.” God, the gardener. Here is one of the first passages in the Bible where we are introduced to who God is, and God is not a warrior or a judge or even a sovereign king/ruler, but first, a gardener, a nurturer of life, protector and planter, a designer, keeper, and pruner concerned with life’s flourishing.
Have you considered what it might mean to you to recognize God as a gardener?
When I survey this vast world, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars and all that you have established, what are mortals that you are mindful of us, human beings in whatever state of despair or joy or smallness that you care for us with the loving eye of a gardener? (based on Psalm 8)
For me, God as gardener, reveals a creator whose deepest concern is life’s flourishing.
You see this little intermission in our devotions that have talked so much about hard places, anxiety, mental struggles, dark places, is meant for all of us to turn our eyes to our creator and recognize that in our journey, whatever messy stuff there may be, God cares for you and me, like a gardener cares for those precious seeds and plants that produce beauty and the food we so enjoy. The deep desire for flourishing.
What sort of response stirs in your heart when you think of God carefully tending to you as a gardener would tend to his plants?
I Invite you to offer this prayer today as you consider God’s gardening work in your life.
Creator God, garden my life — turn it over, cultivate it, and make it ready for gospel seeds to take root. And in quiet darkness let the gospel do its work, slow but powerful, stirring up life in my heart, increasing joy, strengthening all your graces until shoots of new life rise and good fruit bursts forth on the branches of my life, a life beautiful for you and a blessing to others. Amen.
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