“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” II Corinthians 9:6

The raised beds in our garden. Our garden is on a hill so we made flat areas for planting.

We have a big garden and plant things that we like to eat. We have tomatoes, peppers and onions. Some we put fresh into a big salad with the lettuces from our garden. And some we make into salsa for tortilla chips, my favorite. We also have potatoes that we dig up for french fries or baked potatoes. We even have apple and peach trees, yummy.

Some tiny peaches and an apple growing. Can’t wait until they are ready to eat!

We know that if we plant (“sow”) more we will get (“reap”) more to eat; we will have a “bountiful” harvest. But we have also found that being a gardener is not easy. A gardener takes care of the plants. This means time weeding and watering and adding things (fertilizer) to make it all grow.

The Bible is God’s Word. In the verse above Paul was writing to a church in Corinth about spreading God’s Word to other people. He told them that if they plant a little, they will only reap a little, but if they plant a lot, they will reap a lot.

When we read the Bible, God’s Word, we can become gardeners. We can plant all the promises that God gives us in our hearts. Some of my favorite promises are:

• God loves us and nothing can stop His love. (Romans 8:38-39)
• God, through Jesus, His Son, saves us and we will have a forever home in heaven. (John 3:16)
• God has a plan for each of us, a plan to give us hope and not harm us. (Jeremiah 29:11)
• God helps us in times of trouble and gives us strength. (Philippians 4:13)
• Can you dig up some more of God’s promises? Ask your parents to help!

After we plant, as gardeners we take care of plantings (God’s promises) by watering with lots of Bible stories about God’s heroes who lived bravely by trusting in God’s promises. Heroes like:

• Ruth who accepted God as her God and was the great-grandmother of David
• David when He fought Goliath (and later became king of Israel)
• Moses when he led the Israelites out of Egypt
• Queen Esther who saved her people
• And so many more! Your parents can help with this one, too.

We can keep on being gardeners of God’s Word by adding “fertilizer” to make our plantings (God’s promises) grow stronger. Things like prayers and praise songs and giving thanks to God.

Gardeners also need to weed out, get rid of things that might not be good for our plantings, things that keep us from strengthening God’s promises for our lives. This can be anything that takes us away from God’s word. (Your parents might have a suggestion for you.)

This week begin to be a gardener of God’s Word. Grow God’s promises in your heart, trust that God loves you, helps you, saves you and has a wonderful plan for you. Dig up new promises as you garden in God’s Word. Draw a picture of yourself as a gardener in God’s Word.

Blessings to all of you, God’s new gardeners!