Pastor Jim Jackson

Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church

My garden space is very small due to the lack of sunshine. Yet I found a small space outside the backyard fence. It’s about 20 by 20 feet.

So my choice was to shoot for it. So far, so good. I’ve got five tomato plants, one cantaloupe, one bell pepper and one cucumber. So presently I have seven growing tomatoes, one bell pepper and blooms on the cucumber and cantaloupe plants.

Each day begins with my inspection of my tiny garden. I can’t avoid it, for I have found watching something grow can be addictive. But the pleasure of witnessing growth is not limited to plants in our gardens. Only a week ago we were visiting our son and his family in Charlotte, North Carolina.

We were there to join with the family in celebrating our middle grandson’s graduation from the University of South Carolina. As it happened, we slept in the boys’ bedroom. There on the wall was a chart hung when they were quite young. The chart measured their growth in height over the years.

You can imagine how we took joy in watching our grandchildren grow, but not just in physical height. They grew spiritually, intellectually and emotionally as well. I dare say that witnessing growth in the lives of our children and grandchildren is one of the greatest of pleasures. Where there is no growth in living things, there is stagnation and even death. You might remember that our Lord once cursed a fig tree that bore no fruit. That tree had completely failed in its purpose, bearing figs. And that was true in spite of the careful care, including fertilizer, provided by the owner.

I can remember the disappointment of some farmers who bore the pain of watching their crops die in the field for lack of rain. I could imagine their disappointment when they arose every day, looking at a cloudless sky. Those fields represented a great deal of labor and financial investment. Unlike myself lately, they failed to experience the joy, the excitement of witnessing their crops, their livelihood grow.

In our case, yours and mine, there’s no reason for us not to grow in the likeness of our Lord. What a shame to see our souls wither away for our lack of willingness to allow God’s Spirit to sow in the soil of our lives. In his parable of the soils, Jesus described a fruitless life due to the hardness of hearts.

Is there any greater earthly satisfaction than sharing with God the pleasure and excitement of growing each day. I can only imagine God looking down from the portals of heaven” and seeing us grow. “My, my, look at him/her grow! And check out that fruit!”