Easter

I was pretty dubious about my gardening ability but after doing some thorough research (I typed the term ‘planting potatoes’ into my search engine!) I headed out into the garden.

Reference:  Matthew 28:1-20 ; Mark 16:1-20 ; Luke 24:1-12 ; John 20:1-23

Explore:  We’ve recently built some new garden beds at our house.  As we are no great gardeners we thought we would trial a few vegetables just to see how they would survive under our care.  One of the first things I was given to plant were some potatoes.  They were starting to shoot already and so I was told to just dig deep in to the soil and put them in.  In a few weeks I would start to see their shoots above the ground.  I was pretty dubious about my gardening ability but after doing some thorough research (I typed the term ‘planting potatoes’ into my search engine!) I headed out into the garden.  I dug down deep, shoved the potatoes in the hole – not even knowing which end I should face up – and then covered them over with soil.  And then I waited.  I’m sure three weeks had come and gone and there was no sight of any potato plants.  It was no surprise really.  They were just plain potatoes and a green-leafed plant come from a spud that had been hiding in the ground for all this time.  Just when I had given up all hope I went out to my garden bed one morning and saw a little green bushel coming up from the ground, right above where I had planted one of the potatoes.  I took a closer look and realised it wasn’t just a weed but in fact one of the potatoes had started to grow and a magnificent green shoot had emerged to the surface.  It was really unbelievable.  Who would have thought that such a average looking potato could spend a couple of weeks under ground and then transform in to such a lush, vibrant green plant.  Maybe I could be a gardener after all!

Application:  Gardening certainly brings the concept of transformation to our minds.  It’s amazing to see something as plain and boring as a potato become transformed into a magnificent green plant that bears even more potatoes.  Yesterday we celebrated Easter.  This was the day we remember that while Jesus came in the form of a humble man, he was killed and buried in the ground for a couple of days.  However, when He rose from the dead He proved that He truly was the Son of God and therefore our lives have been transformed.  We’re no longer bound by sin but have freedom in Christ.  So while we feel like just a plain and average human we remember that Jesus spent those days underground so that we could be transformed into a beautiful disciple who is also able to bear much fruit.

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, we can never thank You enough for what You endured so that our lives may be transformed.  May we live in such a way that we give glory to You by bearing more fruit.  Amen.

Do you feel like just an average potato?  God can truly transform your life.

John, Luke, Mark, Matthew