Lesson 285: There is a Garden

Chaplain William McKiven

                                                                                There is a Garden

 Genesis 2:8-9 (KJV)
^8" And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
⁹ And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil."

I have always enjoyed hiking in the woods on a cool, crisp winter's day. It is a time to enjoy what our gracious Heavenly Father has created for us as our dwelling place in this life. It is not as perfect as that first garden, but there is much beauty and splendor to behold. It is also a great opportunity to get alone with God and offer worship and praise. A time to thank Him for my many blessings and to seek His counsel in the matters of life.

 

Living in the mountains of East Tennessee is a special blessing as there is so much beauty surrounding us. We live on the side of a knob, but having lived a goodly portion of my life in the flatlands of Alabama and Florida, it is a small mountain! Occasionally I get adventurous and a bit energetic and like to hike to the top of our "little mountain." The views from the top are beautiful! One can see the peaks in the higher elevations of Tennessee and North Carolina and in the wintertime they are covered with snow most of the time.

 

 One very cold January morning (it was about 25 degrees) I decided to take a hike up to the top. The weather was clear with a beautiful blue sky and a bit of a breeze blowing. I do enjoy cold days so this day was perfect. Now I must point out that our "little mountain" is quite steep so it is a challenge to climb to the top, especially for someone with knee problems such as I have. I have to take quite a few breaks along the way because of the pain. I had gotten about halfway to my destination when the pain in my knees got to be too much to continue. As I was looking for a place to rest I saw the perfect sitting rock. There are veins of rock all through our "little mountain", but this one was flat and the perfect size for resting. The Lord does provide! The scripture says that the Lord is the rock of our salvation, but at this particular time He provided "a" rock for my salvation!  Forgive me for that one, but anyway sitting there on that rock I began to reflect on the greatness of God and to thank Him for His wonderful creation that He gave us to enjoy. I thought about how perfect that first garden must have been before sin and rebellion entered our world. What we see and enjoy is only a very small glimpse of what awaits those who are in Christ Jesus.

 

There was another garden called Gethsemene where the Saviour of our souls prayed with great agony on the night of His betrayal. This garden will be forever remembered as a place of anguish and turmoil, but it too was a place of beauty because this was where Jesus submitted completely to the will of His Father and went on to die a horrible death for our redemption. There is no greater love than the love of Christ for His creation. Do you know that love today? It is available to you if you will confess your sins and repent. If you have already tasted of that living water that is Christ, but have become lukewarm or even cold in your relationship with Jesus I urge you to find a garden of your own and renew your commitment to our Lord and Saviour.

 

There is a garden in Heaven that awaits those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. It will be a garden more spectacular than anything we can imagine in this life and in the midst of it is the Tree of Life! Will you be there? I pray that you will. Grace and Peace, William McKiven, the Celtic Chaplain