Third Day Gardening

Genesis 1:9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 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. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning– the third day.

The Third Day is when gardening began.  And God proclaimed it was good. 

No flops in God’s garden. 

It was all perfect, as perfect should be.

Don’t you find it interesting that people always try to poke holes in the Bible, that it’s nothing but a bunch of fairy tales and myths?  And yet, here it is, as true today as it was then. 

Plants have seed that reproduce themselves.  Trees bear fruit and do so according to their kind.

Sure, there’s some genetic variability on this side of expulsion from Eden in which some offspring from seed produce genetic show-stoppers that today’s breeders work hard to attain, but in every bunch, there are some genetic flops, failing to grow or producing no fruit.  But the variability never results in apples producing sheep or alligators or even different kinds of trees.  Apples don’t become elms or maples or buckthorn.  Their seeds produce apples.

The words of Christ still ring true: Matthew 7: 15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”

Jesus, always one to have a good horticultural analogy in His arsenal, is talking about people, their hearts, and their fruit, but consider the consistency which He likens to plants.  For millennia no thornbush bears grapes.  Grapes bear grapes.  And it’s been that way since the Third Day.

Food for thought:

What kind of spiritual fruit do you bear?  How do you feel about others noticing the fruit you produce and whether it’s good or bad?  Does Jesus tell us to condemn them or just recognize them?