04/11/2026
Where do we spend our time each day? Do we waste it on frivolous pursuits, or in prayer? Do we read magazines about worldly subjects, or the Bible and other spiritually uplifting material? Do we seek out those places God wills us to visit, or do we wile away our time in ungodly places for no good purpose? How we apportion our time, the activities we pursue, and places we frequent determines how our faith will grow, and the fruit it will bear. Do we waste our treasure of time, or spend it wisely?
“And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear."”
Matthew 13:3-9 ESV
This is the parable of the sower, and it is rich in symbolism. Through this one lesson that Jesus taught we learn much about how to spend the limited hours of our lives.
My father-in-law is gone now, but during his life he did many things. He lived a rich and full life both spiritually and secularly, but if I had to pick out any one thing he did that really defined him I would tell you that he was a gardener. During his life he pulled himself out of a world of childhood poverty, he went off to war during WWII, he educated himself, he built his own home, he raised a godly family, he worked tirelessly for his church, and he was amazingly successful in business, but the one thing that grounded him, and where he spent a great deal of time with God was in his garden. I tell you this because I want you to understand that this man loved plants and trees, and they were not trivial to him; they all had a purpose, some were amazingly beautiful, some provided shade against a hot sun, or food for his table, and some, through their growing, proclaimed the evidence of God to the world. It seemed that everything my father-in-law touched grew. He knew how to prepare the soil, how to plant the seed, how much water to apply, and when to plant each one in order to get the greatest benefit from the harvest. Plants were valuable to him, and it pained him to see a single one of them die needlessly, or out of season.
So, it was surprising to his family when one day he chopped down the apple trees in his back yard. He had planted them as seedlings, nurtured them to adulthood, and pampered them through thoughtful pruning, but now, after all of that time, and years of attention, he was cutting them down. You see, they just didn’t bear the fruit he had anticipated, and the space they occupied in his yard was too valuable to waste on something that should be yielding a bounty of fruit. His time to raise new trees was limited by his life, and so it was imperative that he not waste it... they needed to be replaced. I know that this pained him, because these trees had been such a focus of his care, and yet they were a disappointment, and barren.
In this act of culling, he taught his family a lesson about time and life. I have often look at my own life and wonder what its fruit is, and if I am producing enough of it? There are many ways to look at a person’s life, my parents looked at many things in mine to determine my success, they examined my ability to be successful intellectually, whether I was independent, and in how well I was supporting myself and my family. My wife looks at my life in terms of how I love her and provide for my family. My father-in-law viewed my life by how much I loved and cared for his daughter, and the grandchildren I gave him. And, I look at all these things, and many more, but there is one that is far more valuable to me than all the others, and which is the garden that grounds me in my life... it is my faith in God… and it provides the foundation for everything else I value.
Our time is not unlimited here on this earth. We are given a certain number of days, and years; and like all earthly things we have a season. At the end of our days, we will be judged by our fruit and it will be determined if we are worthy of eternal life. Job speaks about this, and of the hope he sees in trees...
“Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass, look away from him and leave him alone, that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day. "For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease.”
Job 14:5-7 ESV
Our lives can be fruitful, or we can waste them and finish our days unproductively. Sometimes we look at the seeds we have been provided with and can lose heart in our garden. Can anything good ever come from this? How can I grow something wonderful from what I have been given? This was another lesson that my father-in-law taught me... one afternoon in his later years I was helping him grow his garden, and we were planting tomatoes seeds in flat trays to place in the greenhouse. I looked at the seeds in my hand and told him that they were tiny and didn’t look very promising. He looked up from what he was doing, and said something I will carry with me always, he said, “you would be surprised what God can place in such a small package” and then went back to what he was doing. Wisdom comes to us suddenly, and often unexpectedly, but when it does we recognize it as valuable fruit, and latch onto it. What appeared insignificant in the palm of my hand was amazing in God’s.
So where do we spend our time, and where are our efforts placed? It isn’t all about the seed we are given, but a great deal about how we prepare the soil it will be planted in. It isn’t so much about how lush the leaves are on a fruit tree, but rather, if it bears fruit. It isn’t about how long something grows, but more about how long we have been given to grow it. I ask again... where do we spend our time, and are we bearing enough fruit in this time we have been given?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the time you have provided me in the garden of my life with you. Thank you Lord for each day and help me to hear your voice as you direct my efforts and insure that my harvest will be bountiful. Holy Father, I realize that only you know the days I have, and that only you know what I can plant and harvest in this time you have given me; so, help me to be prosperous in my days, and yield much bounty for your table. Keep me from wasting my time on those things of this world that will distract me from your will. Thank you Merciful Father for the enjoyment I receive from being in the midst of your earthly garden, and although I do enjoy afternoons reclining in the shade of your trees, call me back to the garden once I am well rested, and tell me what you would have me do. Increase my fruitfulness Lord, and let the ground be covered with my seed, and your storehouses be filled with the fruit of my labor. Lord, there is no place I would rather be than in your presence, and no path I would rather walk than in this garden with you. Hear me at the end of each day as I ask, “what now Lord?” and for you to give me one more day to tend your garden. Help me Heavenly Father to make this garden beautiful and its yield abundant. Great are you Gracious Father, and greatly to be praised. You are Holy and full of grace, and even as your finger is pressed into the soil of my life and tiny seeds are dropped into the depressions you make there, may the course of my life, and the abundance of my harvest flourish with your care and please you always.
“And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.”
Genesis 2:8 ESV
So, for my life in this garden with you and your Son Jesus Christ I say Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! And ask that all creation join me in honoring you by saying…
AMEN!
Rich Forbes