August 5, 2010
August is a month when gardens are being harvested and we begin enjoying the fruit of our labors from May and June. I enjoy gardening because I love to watch living things sprout, develop and bear fruit. Perhaps that is part of the reason that I enjoy being a principal at Heartland Christian Academy in Bemidji. This is my fifth start of school there, and I have had the privilege of watching little fourth graders become 8th grade young men and women of God. I believe that God is watching His children grow and mature, as well. Isaiah 61:3 actually calls God’s people “a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.” In Isaiah 60:21 God speaks through the prophet, “they are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands.”
In light of those descriptions of God’s children as the Garden of God’s delight, I am going to take the next several weeks to explore principles from the garden that also apply to our beloved children.
First, I would like us to view our Heavenly Father as a “garden walker.” Throughout the growing season, there is nothing that I enjoy more than walking through the rows of vegetables inspecting for weeds, bugs, need for support, and readiness for harvest. When it comes to our children, I believe that God does the same. As His precious planting, the Lord lovingly examines young hearts and lives to see what is sprouting, how well things are growing, if weeds are competing with His good seed, and if the minions of Satan, the “Lord of the Flies,” are bothering the vulnerable sprouts which will someday bear good fruit for the Kingdom.
I believe that God uses us as adult mentors to participate in that garden inspection. When it comes to our children's lives, we must be God-directed “garden walkers.” Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can be sensitive to areas of growth in our children’s lives, feeding and encouraging what brings glory to God. We can be carefully watching for “weeds and bugs,” aware that even a small child can be hindered by cares, worries, fears, anger and other things that we as parents and teachers know to be sin.
Inspection of God’s planting should also include placing good seed from God’s Word in children’s hearts, always attentive to signs of new spiritual life. When their walk with Jesus is new, children need to be protected by the spiritual prayer cover of their adult mentors, just like placing pots of seedlings into a green house. At Heartland, we are especially attentive to the youngest students, providing intercessory prayer cover and making sure that they have every opportunity to hear God’s Word and get a quality education and a good start to their life in Christ. In the coming weeks, we will look at these issues more thoroughly, gaining insight from looking at our children as the precious “shoots” that He has planted.
Our broadcast today was sponsored by the Tea n’ Gift Shoppe of Bemidji, who invite you to slow down and enjoy a cup of tea.