If you don’t have a garden, you’re really missing out. Gardening can be a blast! Here are ten reasons every Christians should consider giving it a chance:
1) Jesus talked about plants all the time.
The Bible is full of agricultural metaphors. We get parables about sowers of seeds (Matthew 13.3ff) and growers of vineyards and laborers working in the sun (Matthew 20.1-16). We are told that “the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.” (Matthew 9.37) We hear about “separating the wheat from the chaff.” (cf. Luke 3.17) And if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we can move mountains. (Matthew 17.20)
If Jesus was that into seeds, maybe it’s worth trying this whole gardening thing? You don’t have to give up your day job to become a farmer. But even a little amateur gardening might infuse some new meaning into those Bible passages.
2) God originally made the first humans, Adam and Eve, to live and work in a garden.
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” (Genesis 2.15)
Before there was sin, there were gardens.
If God chose a garden as man’s original home, that’s probably a sign that gardens are good for us.
3) It’s a hobby that helps you save money instead of spending it.
It’s always nice to cultivate hobbies that are good for the pocketbook. However tight the budget gets, you can always look forward to an activity that gets you exercise and puts food on the table.
4) If Western Civilization collapses, it’ll be good to know how to keep a plant alive.
Hey, you never know.
5) If Western Civilization doesn’t collapse, fresh salsas and pasta sauces are delicious.
Gardening is one of those hobbies that just keeps giving, to you, your family, and often friends and neighbors too. Few things are more satisfying than getting dinner from the “produce section” that’s right out your back door.
6) Growing flowers and vegetables helps your family to appreciate the miracle of creation.
However cliché it may sound, it’s still pretty amazing to watch tiny seeds turn into beautiful flowering or fruiting plants. It’s a great way of reminding yourself what an excellent job God did in creating the world.
7) God does most of the work anyway, so why not?
As a busy mom, I neglect my garden a lot. I’m amazed how much it produces, even without proper TLC. Last year when I was raking fall leaves, I bumped into a large pumpkin I forgot I’d even planted. Things like that just feel like gifts from Heaven.
8) Yards should be “open to life” too.
There’s something very affirming and wholesome about a yard that’s full of thriving plants. I like to plant climbers all over my railings and fences just to give myself that lavish feeling of being in a green, growing paradise. Celebrate life! You owe it to yourself to enjoy it in all its forms!
9) Kids are more likely to eat vegetables they helped harvest.
Mine aren’t that great about eating their greens, but I find if they help me to plant, grow and harvest them, they’re pretty curious to taste the food we grew together. That’s a pretty elaborate way of getting your kids to eat vegetables, but hey, whatever works.
10) Our Risen Lord was mistaken for a gardener.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” (John 20.15, ESV)
There’s got to be something in that, don’t you think?
