Have you ever heard the expression “He has a green thumb?” Or “She has a green thumb?”
This common phrase refers to a person who has “a gift” for growing plants. I find that definition interesting because it’s the Holy Spirit who bestows “gifts” to us and, according to 1 Corinthians 12:7, to each is given the manifestation of The Spirit for the common good.
Did you know that one of the probable origins of the term “green thumb” comes from the fact that repeatedly handling clay pots which are normally encrusted with algae, will stain a gardener’s thumb green? I’m going to challenge you for a moment… According to The Holy Bible, who are the clay pots? We are the earthen pots made of clay! The Lord is the potter’s hands. This is perfectly laid out in Lamentations 4:2 The precious sons of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold, how they are regarded as earthen pots, the work of a potter’s hands!
Can we then say that tending to earthen clay pots, sharing the gospel of salvation in God’s garden with the gift of The Holy Spirit to assist us, gives us all a green thumb? I would say so! We are all spiritual gardeners.
Our story begins in a garden and it ends with the restoration of that garden.
Let’s take a look at the beginning…
Genesis 2:8
And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
And, also, Genesis 2:15
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Two things are happening in these verses. Notice Adam didn’t walk into the garden. God “put him into the garden.” The Lord placed him exactly where He wanted him to be. And, then we see in Genesis 2:15 that The Lord put him there “to work it and keep it.” From the very moment an earthen clay pot was created, the potter, The Lord, required him to work and keep a garden. Adam and Eve were to tend to God’s garden.
Although man fell and was cast out of the Eden, the garden of paradise, our task as children of The Most High God is still the same. Only now it’s 3 fold! We are to be laborers in the field for God in the earth. We are to tend to the saints (The Vine), and we need to produce fruit of the Spirit by pruning ourselves in order to become more righteous every day.
Isaiah 61:11 reads, “Right righteousness will be like a garden in early spring, with plants springing up everywhere.” What an amazing visual of God’s garden springing up with children of Christ.
Let’s talk about the vine.
In Matthew 21, Jesus spoke a parable of a householder who planted a vineyard and let it out to husbandmen. When the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen to receive the fruits of it. The husbandmen slew, beat, and stoned the servants. They even wanted to kill his son, and did. So, the lord of the vineyard destroyed them. He then let out his vineyard to other husbandmen which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
The vineyard is the Kingdom of God, The House of Israel. The householder is Jesus. The husbandmen are the leaders. The servants are the saints.
Now, Jesus was talking about the Pharisees who betrayed him here, but we can also apply this today to false prophets, hypocrite teachers, and wicked preachers. The leaders need to provide the saints with the fruit they need. Not only is the church supposed to take care of itself and its members in the physical sense (like helping one another financially and with errands, food, clothing, physical labor, comfort and fellowship), but also spiritually in prayer and proper teachings according to The Word.
When Noah got off the ark, we are told in Genesis 9:20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
We are also told of a blessing that took place.
Genesis 9:1
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
What did God tell Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28?
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth…
With Noah, after all wickedness had been destroyed from the face of the earth, God was restoring the original blessing and duty to tend to his garden, his vineyard, after the flood.
In the Matthew 21 parable I spoke of earlier, Jesus’ exact words were in Matthew 21:33:
33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:”
The Lord Protected the House of Israel with his hedge round about. Who is Israel? We are Israel, The Lord’s people. He protects us. He hedged the vineyard. Remember the hedge around Job? It had to be removed before the Satan could test Job. It was a hedge of protection.
Back to the parable in Matthew 21:33… once The Lord left, those who were to tend to his vineyard fell away and didn’t give the servants the fruit.
What did Isaiah prophesy about this?
Let’s look at Isaiah 5.
1 My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant:
There are consequences when the vineyard is not taken care of. We must tend to the vineyard, taking care of one another, God’s people, his saints, the church, in order to produce good grapes. Good Righteous Souls.
Now, our second gardening role was to work the fields as well. Let’s take a look at that.
In Matthew 9:37-38, we read that Jesus said:
37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
Not only did Jesus say here that we are to labor in this harvest, but we are also to pray for laborers of the harvest.
Well, what harvest is Jesus talking about?
Jesus told us in Matthew 13 that the harvest is the end of the world. The reapers are the angels. The wheat of the harvest is the good seed that the Son of Man planted. And, the devil planted the tares (the bad seed) among the wheat. The Lord wants us to labor the harvest to produce more wheat for his barn. Jesus told us that the tares will be gathered and burned in the fire, but the wheat would be placed in His barn. The Lord doesn’t want any of us to be burned in the fire. He doesn’t want that for any man.
We must labor the harvest and we must produce good grapes on the vine was well. Jesus tells us to make more servants of Christ (wheat, good souls) in the parable of the talents. Those servants who were given 2 and 5 talents by the lord of the servants doubled their talents (money) when their master was away and were then told “Well Done Good and Faithful Servant” The servant who was given one talent hid his and could only then present that one talent back to his master. That servant was called wicked and slothful.
Use your talents, your gifts of The Spirit, to tend to the harvest. Tend to the vine. Be the Lord’s gardener.
And lastly, don’t neglect your own clay pot in which your plant grows. What happens when we repent and receive the Holy Spirit? We produce what? FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT!
Tend to your own branch to produce the fruit of The Spirit through repentance, thanksgiving, praise, prayer, and singing to The Lord.
Remember what Romans 6:21 teaches us:
21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
When we were sinners in darkness, we had no fruit and only death in the end. But now, servants of God, free from sin, and walking in his marvelous light, we have fruit of holiness and in the end, everlasting life.
Galatians 5:22 tells us what the fruit of The Spirit is:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance:
These are the fruits you should be striving to produce on your own plant, you. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control. Every day we need to prune our own branches in order to produce this fruit. We recognize when the enemy has us and we repent, learn, and grow.
Ephesians 5:8-10 reminds us not to fall back, but to continue in faith and to walk in the Spirit, stating:
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
Fruit of The Spirit is what is acceptable to the Lord. As a matter of fact, in Galatians 5, right before, He tells us what the Fruit of the Spirit is, He gives us a big list of what it is not, what is unacceptable to Him. We need to be gardeners of ourselves, pruning our own plant and branches to produce The Fruit of The Spirit which The Lord delights in.
Although the hedge has been removed from the vineyard and the work is not easy – it’s not in this fallen world and it’s only getting harder on us with all the evil at every corner. It’s becoming more and more difficult to open the hearts of others to the name of Jesus. But, there is hope and a great reward for His gardeners.
I’m going to skip around in Isaiah 32 now:
32 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness.
10 Many days and years shall ye be troubled.
15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. 16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. 17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. 18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
20 Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.
I skipped around a bit to get across a point. This passage is describing the renewal of Eden, an outpouring of God’s spirit, restoration of the land, the return of God’s blessing, rest and security from the righteousness of God… The New Jerusalem where we, his gardeners, will live and reign with Christ. Did you know there was a garden where Christ was crucified? There was! John 19:41 tell us.
41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden;
Be the gardener The Lord wants you to be. Labor in The Lord’s field, tend to His vine, and prune your own plant – so when you stand boldly before the throne, you will hear “Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant.”