Preparing our Soil

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. – Romans 8:25

 “Is it time now?” Emily asked for the hundredth time. “Not yet, Honey”, I answered again to my four-year-old daughter who immediately resounded with yet another “Whyyyy not?” “Because we have to wait until the soil is ready,” I explained. You see, the previous weekend I had bought bulbs and flower seeds for us to plant in a flower garden. We picked just the right spot in front of her playground.  It could be 15 feet across and 3 feet wide…just the perfect size for all that we had to plant. Emily’s first thought was to grab a shovel and begin planting. I have to admit that it was my first thought, too.  First, it was a fun activity that Emily and I were looking forward to and second, it would save so much time.  We could get everything planted in one hour and then wait for the seeds to spout. We would certainly see those sprouts much quicker that way.  But my rational adult side knew without question what would happen if we did.  Not only would our seeds grow, but so would all of the weeds that were already mixed in with the soil. It would result in such a mixture of both that the beauty of our flowers would be lost and the enjoyment of our bed would be greatly diminished. Instead, I knew, we would have to ask Keith to help make the bed just right for our flower garden. First, he would have to till up the current soil that was full of weeds. Then he would have to remove all of the existing soil that had just been tilled up. Next, he would have to place a plastic barrier at the base of the bed to keep out weeds from the ground below the flower bed. And finally, he would fill up the bed with pure potting soil…soil that would be fertile enough to grow beautiful flowers, but without the weeds that would ruin the beauty of the flower bed. And that’s exactly what he did two weeks later on the first weekend day with sunny weather.  Though the wait was long, Emily and I were soon enjoying what we thought was the most beautifully wonderful flower garden in the world.

Think about this story in relation to our spiritual life.  Often, we have a desire for something and we want it now.  We want to be able to control the situation and get whatever it is immediately or at least what we would perceive is a reasonable amount of time.  But perhaps our soil isn’t ready. Perhaps we must wait until just the right time after our own Father has dug out all of the weed-filled soil and replaced it with pure soil, leaving his holy spirit as a barrier to further help keep out weeds, or rather a corrupt society, our own negative emotions, or any other influence that might make our soil less fertile.  Think about the time, effort, and love God might put into making our “bed”, just like the time and effort Keith put into making the bed for Emily. He does this for the same reason Keith did it for her…because He loves us so much and will do anything in the world for us.

Now imagine yourself as Emily in the same scenario.  Have you recently asked God if it’s time yet and questioned why your seed can’t just grow in the soil that’s already there?  If so, understand that just as I knew why Emily’s seeds shouldn’t be planted before the time was right if I wanted her to experience perfectly beautiful flowers, God, too, knows just the right time that your seed should be planted in His fertile soil. And when He does, I promise that you’ll experience nothing less than the most beautifully wonderful garden in the world.

He is Risen!

Several months ago while studying the blessed birth of our Savior, I learned that when Jesus was writing His story with God in heaven before any of the events of His life occurred, He could have one of two cities, each known as the City of David, as his birthplace. Zion, stood for strength and prosperity, and was a fitting description of the King that was coming.  Jesus instead chose to be born in Bethlehem, which means House of Bread.  This is symbolic of who He was and was to come.  The Living Bread.

But the perfectly orchestrated symbolism doesn’t stop there.  The significance of Jesus as Bread actually began 1400 years earlier when Moses was called to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. God had sent ten plagues upon Egypt and yet, each time until the last, the Pharaoh’s heart was hardened allowing the people to go worship God.  It was the tenth and final plague that made the eternal difference: the death of every first born child.  The Israelites were told to kill an unblemished paschal lamb in sacrifice and to place the lamb’s blood above their doors using hyssop to signify that they belonged to God and each life would be spared. This Passover alone is highly symbolic of the death of Christ as the unblemished Lamb whose blood was shed for us so that we may live. Hyssop, in case you didn’t know, was used for cleansing in the biblical times, which again was significant in the Passover story. But there was much more symbolism than just the blood that was shed. There was also the bread.

The Lord would bring the Israelites out of Egypt so quickly following the Passover that they would not have time to add yeast. Instead, they would gather up the unleavened bread and hurry off to leave the country. On the third day, final freedom would come for them as they miraculously crossed the Red Sea and out of bondage forever. As directed by the Lord, they Israelites from that time forward would celebrate an annual feast of unleavened bread in remembrance of their salvation from slavery. All offerings were to be given to the Lord without yeast because yeast represented sin. As we have all experienced in our own life, a little sin can quickly rise into something much bigger and God was drawing them into that understanding.

Fast forward about 1400 years past the birth of Christ in the City of the House of Bread to the time of His crucifixion. Not coincidentally, the day that Jesus was nailed to the cross marked the first day of the Passover Celebration of Unleavened Bread.  Think about that. If leaven or yeast referred to sin, then this was a celebration of the removal of sin. The great removal!  And who took on all of the sin that was removed? Christ Himself!

But the symbolism doesn’t stop there.  On the third day the tomb was found empty with an angel beside it. What did the angel say about the missing Lord?  “HE IS RISEN!” Christ, who took all of our sin/yeast…ROSE from the dead. From that point forward those who called upon His name and believed would experience completeness of salvation from the bonds of sin’s slavery just as the Israelites had. And not only was the sin removed, but it was replaced.  As Paul states in many of his writings, we should remove the old and put on the new. Newness in Christ.  Oneness with Christ instead of with our sin.

This concept made me stop and think about my own life. The more I take on assignments that are not from God, the more my stress level grows.  The more I seek affirmation from others, the more my pride grows.  The more I seek worldly pleasures, the more worldly pleasures I desire. Yet even when I am still I’ve found that the more I try to rise above stress, I am unable.  The more I try to rise above selfish desires, I am unable. The more I try to rise above pride or false motives, I am unable. What I have found, however, is that when I allow Jesus into my life and partner with the Holy Spirit to knead me together with himself, that is when I rise above all things. Not by me, but only by His presence in me. So the more I seek His affirmations, the more my identity in Him increases in place of pride.  The more I seek spiritual pleasures, the more I grow spiritually in place of desiring things of this world.  The more I seek His guidance on my actions, the more I am at peace in place of stress.  The more I am in Him or rather the more He is in me, the more I am fruitful. For I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. Gal 2:20