Gardening as an Act of Worship

I was thinking this morning, as I was praying about my day and asking God to order it in a way that pleases Him, that it can be an act of worship to do gardening.  Actually everything can be an act of worship if you’re doing it as unto the Lord.  Doing laundry for Jesus just isn’t as enjoyable for me as doing gardening for Jesus.

How can gardening be an act of worship?  Well, it’s planting seeds that God will grow into mature plants.  It reminds me of all the plants He created on “Day 3” with seeds in them so that they could reproduce. And that it was good.

Genesis 1:12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

It’s nurturing the Creation and taking care of the health of plants so they will mature and bear fruit and everything can flow from generation to generation.

Genesis 1:28 God blessed [Adam and Eve] and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground– everything that has the breath of life in it– I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

It reminds me of the way God ordained the seasons and gives rain to water the earth so that plants will flourish.  As the seasons in Chicagoland move from what seems like the world’s longest winter into the coming spring, I rejoice in the angle of the sun changing so I can watch God’s faithful sunrises every morning and how the plants respond to the increased day length by flowering and sending forth new growth.  I rejoice that even the polar vortex cannot stand in the way of the growing intensity of the sun’s rays warming the air.

In remembering all this goodness of God and marveling at Him–how He designed and created such amazing and intricate things to reproduce for our enjoyment–what is this, but worship?  Yes, gardening can be an act of worship of God and I’m happy about that.

As a reminder, Lent begins March 5th.  Sign up today for the series “Be Still and Know that I AM God” on the space provided on the Home Page.  Get ready to Be Still.