looking for a garden

It's springtime. The time of the singing of the birds has begun.  I enjoy being outdoors during this time of the year.  It makes me wonder what it was like to walk in the Garden of Eden with the Creator of the universe.

As He walked there, communing daily with His most prized creation, man, the Father must have been overjoyed at all He had done.  You would think that it would have been "enough"  for mankind.  But, we all know the story...man wanted more.  And he still does.

We chase after fulfillment everywhere except where it truly is.  Man has fallen.  And, how great was his fall!

Just imagine, walking in the cool of the day...not a hasty on-a-mission walk, but a short, sweet meandering, taking time to marvel at every creature, or flower, or sound, or color...that kind of walk.  And if that weren't enough, God walking with us.  Laughing and talking about the day.  How could we ever bear to leave such a place?!

Well friend, let me tell you something.  God missed us; He missed us more than we missed Him, and one day, it was just too much.  He had to do something to bring us back.  He loved us that much.  And while the Garden of Eden, itself, is forever gone, He created something even better.  He's made it possible for each of us to walk with Him every day...He's making our hearts a beautiful garden.  He made a way to come back home to Him.  Jesus, His precious Son, is the gateway to our own garden with God.

Never again will we be cast out.  Jesus walks with us; He never leaves.
He loves us more than anything.

I wonder if we will ever be able to comprehend such love and affection...so great that even the angels wanted to know more about it.  (I Peter 1: 12)

The world that God imagined for us, was physically ruined as a result of the fall.  Nothing will ever get it back.  But, we can...every one of us...have a supernatural relationship with the Lord of the Universe.  It's so easy.  All we need to do, is look to Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith...the great exchange: my all for His all!  From that moment, there is nothing that can separate us from the hand of the Lord.  We remain in His love, as He builds a beautiful garden from the ashes in our old stony hearts.  And that is where we will find Him...every moment of every day.  For, "where your heart is, there is your treasure!"

Today, as we celebrate what is left of our beautiful earth, let us not neglect the garden of gardens.  Stop flirting with the ways-of-the-world and spend more time with the One who sings over you.  Thanks be to God for the peace that passes all earthly understanding.  It's always sunny in this garden...the only rain is gentle and sweet upon the face.  The storms are all far, far away...they aren't allowed here.  Come aside and sit in the Garden of His mercy, grace and unfailing love.  Listen, don't you hear the sound of the singing...run, run into His open arms...and rest awhile.