We have looked at Kingdom Perspective from the ‘one
thing’ analogy. In this discussion, we would consider ‘tending and keeping’
one’s garden.
To tend means to ‘care for’. It implies being a caretaker. It means you watch over, take care of, guide, nurse, dress, or cultivate something.
The word ‘keep’ implies maintaining and improving. When God commits a garden into your hand, he has already given you the ability to bring the garden to the desired level. There are standards to be met where God has placed you. In Genesis, when God created the plants, they did not come forth immediately. There was also no rain because there was no man to bring them forth, that is to cultivate them. Tending and keeping the garden means to manage effectively and generate surplus value out of something that looks insignificant.
Some people do not place value on their God-given
garden. In your garden lies your greatness, fulfilment and success (Job 8:7).
Your garden is your place of establishment. It might not look like it in the
beginning, but God has placed everything that would bring that which He has
committed to your hands to a place of envy within you. It is your place of
grace. The anointing of the Holy Spirit flows in this garden. Your garden is
your God-appointed place/location.
It is not just about a geographical location. It
might be a gift or a circumstance of blessing (for example, a good home). Your
garden is your future. God places your future in your hands- tend it, keep it,
nurture it. As a wise master builder, you commit your time, energy and money to
it. Your garden might even be your career, business, ministry, family or
relationship that you take for nothing. Your garden could be your skillset or
gift. Nurture it and take it to the next level (Prov 12:27).
It takes a God-formed man to locate the treasure in
the garden that God has given Him. It takes a God-formed man to connect to
heavenly wisdom; fashioning solutions out of problems.
The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens (Prov. 3:19).
Through wisdom a house (enterprise) is built; and by understanding it is established (Prov. 24:3).
The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens (Prov. 3:19).
Through wisdom a house (enterprise) is built; and by understanding it is established (Prov. 24:3).
Matt 13:44-46
A merchant is a service provider (Prov 22:29, Eccl.
9:10). He is not a parasite, trying to reap from where he has not sown. It
takes a merchant to see a pearl of a great price and identify it. In keeping
and tending your garden, you generate surplus value. The Christian life is not just
lived within the four walls of a church. The ‘wheat’ as described in the Bible
is the seed that has been thoroughly established by the Word of God. They
remain unperturbed even in the time
of persecution, nor are they blown around by every wind of doctrine.
What is your garden? Where is your garden? When you
dwell in your garden, you are guaranteed of a hundred-fold increase. The power
and grace to tend and keep your God-given garden, God grants you in the name of
Jesus Christ. Amen.
PASTOR NATHANIEL SADELA
Resident Pastor
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