The Bible mentions gardens! The Garden of Eden. In Genesis God creates this garden a place where he created life and allows Adam and Eve to reside and grow there. A place where He walks and fellowships with Adam and Eve. The garden is a place of refreshment and communion with God. That's the garden we all desire whether we fully realize it or not. God created the garden to nurture life and to nurture our connection with Him. This garden is restful, peaceful, and comforting. When God calls us into fellowship with Him and we accept that invitation, we can find ourselves in this oasis of fellowship with Him. God promises this to all who believe and who follow Him in faith. The book of Revelation gives us a picture of a restored garden, a new fellowship, a restored place of rest for all those who believe.
The other garden, is the garden of Gethsemane. This garden is a place where Jesus wrestles with the harsh reality of sacrifice and the cross. He wrestles with walking the path to the cross, the path of suffering, hardship, and death. This is the garden that most of us wish to avoid, the garden of suffering on the path of obedience to God. The garden of Gethsemane symbolizes the path of obedience God is calling each one of us. Jesus never said it would be easy to follow him. When the disciples said they would follow him, he asked if they were willing to drink of the cup of his suffering.
The Christian walk is a journey through both gardens, the garden of sweet fellowship and the garden of obedient suffering. But maybe it's not two gardens, maybe it's one in the same. For in the obedient suffering we find the sweet fellowship with Him.
In following Jesus today, walk the garden path of fellowship with Jesus, whether we feel the sweet communion of fellowship, or the struggle of the cross of obedience. Both places is where God meets us....
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