Learning Humility From The Garden

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

matthew 11:29

July.
What a month to be a gardener. Every morning a new adventure awaits. Each time you enter the garden, new treasures can be found. Though there’s still daily maintenances to see the season through to a successful harvest, much time has been devoted to tending our precious plants. 

If we’re lucky enough, we’re only beginning to enjoy the fruits of our labors. As I continue looking after my little garden, I can’t help but pause by my some of the plants. It seems every day I must trellis up a new vine of my ripening tomatoes. The heavy fruits pull the ever heightening stems straight to the ground. The beans are also worth considering. I can never seem to keep up with the constant picking they require. Every walk through the garden I find more beans that I’ve missed, like the tomatoes, tugging the climbing vines down. 

As I pass by the tomatoes and beans, I am reminded of our wonderful Father in Heaven and His desire for us to bear fruit. Interestingly, the plants in the garden that bear the most fruit are the plants that are bowed the lowest. Instead of tall and proud, they are lowly and humble, just as Jesus was. I can’t help but make the comparison between the plants and us believers. Those of us that are producing the most fruit are not the ones boldly proclaiming our own name and achievements, but those of us praising the glory of God at all times from our knees. Those with heads bowed down, eyes looking up, and hearts surrendered. 

Let the vines of the garden remind us of what it looks like to bear good fruit; bowed low in humble submission to all that God, who loves us, has planned for us.