In the first verse of John 15, Jesus says that He is the true grapevine and that His Father is the gardener. Jesus says this, so we know who is the gardener in our lives. God the Father is the Gardener who cultivates our souls with a father’s tender heart. We know that God is our creator. He was the gardener since the beginning. Read Genesis 1: 11-12. Then skip to Genesis 1:29-30. It says that God planted a garden in Eden.
Throughout scripture, God shows up in a variety of ways as the divine gardener. Read Numbers 17:8. What did God grow on Aaron’s staff? How is that above and beyond what was expected? What does this mean to you that God the gardener caused new growth on an old dead piece of wood?
How does God use the fruit in your life -the growth only He can produce- that affirms His work through you?
Now let’s read John 13:34-35. What did Jesus say would show that we are His disciples? What is it about love that convinces others when our best arguments often all?
Read 1 Corinthians 3:5-9. What do these verses say about our partnership with God? What are the three main takeaways from these verses?
God isn’t just our gardener; he is also our father, who is tender with a father’s heart. Jesus wants us to really know who God the father is. I have friends who have seen God as a harsh god. God is creator, Lord, judge, and our tender father loves us deeply and does tend to us gently. What else do we know about God and Jesus? Please make a list of what you already know about them. Here are a few that I made about God: gentle, love, merciful, patient, slow to anger, gracious, forgiving, peace, and peace.
Some of you may have a hard time accepting God as a father because you didn’t have a kind, gentle, tender, loving earthly father. Read Luke 15: 11-32. What qualities do you see in the father Jesus described in this passage? Are their qualities that also represent a skilled gardener? What does this teach us about God the father and gardener want to be to us?
So who is God the Father?
- a watcher
- robe giver
- feast maker
- restorer
- appealer
- never leaver
- one that gets his hands dirty
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for being a loving and tender father to us all. I pray that we will choose to be with you and really know who you are as we journey together.
In Jesus Name
Amen
