Is there a name or a description of God that you really relate to?
Father. Healer. Creator. God Almighty. Everlasting. Master. The Light. Counselor. Shepherd. Provider.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about God as the Gardener. I know, it’s not one of those names that makes the top ten list, but Jesus himself described his Father as the gardener. 
(John 15) While I’ve pruned rose bushes, pulled weeds, and watered the dry beds this spring, I’ve reflected on God, the master gardener.
“Now the Lord planted a garden.” He made things both “pleasing to the eye and good for food,” and he “walked in it in the cool of the day”. (Genesis 2-3)
He is not only the gardener of this beautiful earth he created, but he also is the gardener of our souls.
He plants,
waters,
prunes,
transplants,
grafts branches in,
throws branches out.
He guards
and protects.
He walks amidst his garden.
He delights in good fruit.
Others take shelter in his garden.
I’m thankful to be one of the small 
branches growing in the garden that is tenderly tended to by God. He faithfully waters our souls so that we are renewed. He gently prunes our thoughts.. He protects us from evil. And he delights in us. Together, we bring him honor as we bear fruit that blesses others.
Have you thanked your gardener lately?
“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.” Psalm 92:12-15
