A Master Gardener led a small child with His hand through a vast and magnificent garden — the width and breadth stretched beyond eyesight rising over the distant hills and upward into the mountains. Every shape and color imaginable co-existed within His garden. Brilliant oranges and yellows danced in the wind between the mauves and purples. The child leaned into the sweet aroma of the rose garden, carefully avoiding the thorny stems. She pinched her nose tight desperately trying to avoid the putrid aroma of the white lilies.
“Which is your favorite, Master?” she asked.
“Favorite?” the Master responded with twinkling eyes. “I don’t have a favorite. I love each one deeply. Every plant in my garden has a special place in my heart and purpose for being here.”
They silently walked on together. The child wondered how He could ever love them all. Some, yes! That she could understand. But all? Beside some flowers she lingered, noting the delicate beauty of petals and leaves. Others, she passed by without giving them even a glance. Yet, the Master hesitated over each fragile plant, gently running His fingers over the upper tips as if to encourage them to greatness.
The Master Gardener
I, like the little child, silently wonder how God could love us all. You see, I have an unwritten scale of perceived worthiness — from the understandably admirable, to the obviously twisted but tolerable, and even to the outright vile. Yet, the Bible says that His love reaches to everyone.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
God so loved the world that He withheld nothing good from even the worst of us. God so loved the world in a way that welcomes everyone into relationship with Him. Yes, God so loved the world, gently touching us with His redemptive hand restoring to life and purpose. The world. That’s all of us.
His perfect love makes Him a perfect Lover. Selfless. Generous. Gracious. Not overlooking our imperfections and outright sinfulness but breathing life (eternal life) into and over us.
I, like the little child, must be continuously reminded of His tender love. As I look into the vacant eyes of one who has lost capacity to reason or recall, I must remember. As I sit with a young woman from the streets with mucous and vomit falling down her shirt, I must remember. When someone says or does something cruel, I must remember.
I must remember not only the Master Gardener’s love, but my own thorns, pungent odors, and unsightly fragmented state.
Immeasurable Love
As far as the eye can see and so far beyond, the love of God reaches. Through nations and generations, it flows, never diminishing, ever increasing.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
As beautiful as roses may be, how bland the world if only roses bloomed. Trees void of blossoms would remain unfruitful. Tiny violets would never speckle the mossy forest floor with glorious color. Sunflowers would never turn their bold faces from east to west each passing day until full maturity. Who could imagine it? Foolishness! Right?
What if everyone was exactly like you? Or worse, like me? How empty and incomplete the world would be.
No. The Master Gardener knows and loves us all. Not just when we reach the prime of beauty, but now … in our broken, wounded responses … in our selfishness. He loves us. Period. Full stop.
But, He loves us far too much to leave us as we presently are. With open arms He waits for us to respond to Him, turning our gaze upward in humble submission.
“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”
1 John 4:16
Great Mercy
The Master’s Gardener perfects the fragrance of His love through His mercy and grace.
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
Ephesians 2:4-5
Made us alive with Christ. It is all Him. He does what we cannot.
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They walked together through the fields and forests. He bent toward the ground pointing out the dried leaves of a plant which once flourished. “This one sleeps,” He said, “sending its roots deep into the soft summer soil even while it rests. One day it will push its blooms through melting blankets of snow, announcing the coming of spring. And this one,” He continued, “drawing my attention to a lush clump of green. Though you cannot see even a hint of a blossom, when the days shorten and evenings carry a chill, it will shoot its radiant bloom skyward, filling the meadow with beauty when others have faded. Each has a season, Little One. Each has a purpose. In my perfect time, they fulfill their design.
“How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”
Psalm 36:7
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