God’s Garden: Part 3

Timmy looked over at his mom who was raking the larger garden section smooth.

“What do you think, Mom?” said Tim pointing to his smaller area. “Is my garden ready to plant the seeds?”

“It looks great to me, and I’m sure your dad will be very pleased,” said Mrs. Miller as she walked over to admire her son’s dark, crumbly garden spot. “Even though you didn’t get to play much this week after school, your hard work has paid off. You have a fine looking patch of dirt.”

“I’ve been thinking about the garden in my heart, Mom,” said Tim. “Today in school, Jack gave me a shove in the hall and then laughed when I dropped my books. I wanted to tell him to stop acting like a jerk, but then I remembered what you and Dad said about calling names being a weed in my heart.”

“Good for you,” said his mom. “What did you do then?”

“Well, I wasn’t sure what to do, so I just picked up my books and walked away,” said Timmy. “I ignored what he did.”

Smiling, his mom said, “Jack didn’t get any enjoyment out of being rude when you didn’t respond to him. It is better not to say anything than to say the wrong thing.” She gave him a hug. “It’s time for me to start dinner. Your dad will be home soon, so you better come in and begin on your homework, Timmy.”

After dinner Tim took his dad out to see his garden area. “See Dad? I finished raking my space today after school. Am I ready to plant?”

“Almost, Tim. However, we first have to set a boundary for our gardens,” said his dad. “That will help to keep the animals out.”

Timmy giggled. “Yeah! I remember when Champ dug up Mom’s flowers a couple of years ago. After that you put up that small fence.”

Mr. Miller went in the garage and brought out a large roll of green mesh netting and began to place it around the dug area. “After we put down this fencing, I’ll section off your garden from ours so you will know exactly where to plant your seeds,” said Tim’s dad.

“Good! I was wondering how I could tell for sure where the edge of my space was,” said Tim kicking at the dirt.

His dad stopped working and put his arm around Tim’s shoulder. “Jesus puts boundaries or fences around the garden of our hearts too, Son. When He tells us, ‘You shall not steal,’ that is like a fence. It is to keep the good things in and the bad things out.”

“Oh yeah! Like the time when I was five and took a candy bar without paying for it. You made me take it back and apologize to Mr. Appleton.” said Tim looking up at his dad.

“Right! When we disobey what God tells us in the Bible, we go outside of the boundary He has put in our hearts,” said his dad. “This is sin, and it hurts our relationship with Jesus.”

Tim fingered the green mesh. “There’s a lot more to planting a garden than I thought,” he said. “I see how important it is to read my Bible and go to Sunday School. I want to learn about the garden fences for my heart.”