“Every Christian is called to be a gardener for God’s Kingdom.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – April 7, 2026
So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. 1 Corinthians 3:7-9
In a world so obviously fallen as ours, it is all too easy to become a Christian pessimist. These are the ones who seem always ready with a comment about how bad things have gotten and how eager they are to fly away to streets of gold and leave the world to its just deserts. Maybe we don’t go as far as that, but we might still find ourselves stuck in the muck and mire of the world’s problems to the point that we feel paralyzed, so we throw up our hands and leave it to God to sort it out when Jesus returns.
The danger in the pessimistic perspective is that it is based on truths. Yes, evil is at large in the world, and yes, Jesus will put all things to rights when he returns. But redemption for this world is not on hold until the day of his return. God so loved this world he made – a place infused with his beauty and goodness – that he sent his own son down into its messiness to rescue it from the inside out. He has been doing the work of redemption ever since, and his favourite tool for the job: us. His people.
God has called us to be fellow gardeners in this world. If we want to work alongside the Father, we must catch his heart for this place he created and called good. True, we cannot fix the world’s problems, but we can love our little patch of earth and tend it well. We can love our place and the people that belong to it, patiently pulling up the weeds and planting good seeds. With faithful care over time, we will see beauty springing up like spring seedlings. This is what it is to be a Kingdom worker. We have each been endowed with the sacred responsibility of mediating God’s grace to the world around us. We do that by bringing beauty, light, and life by whatever unique gifts God has given us, be it planting a homely, nourishing vegetable patch or cultivating a garden of roses.
The thing about being a gardener is that you really cannot be a pessimist. To plant a garden is to hope. No one puts a seed into the ground without hope that it will grow into a living plant. When we get our hands dirty in the soil of God’s good earth – in our homes, neighborhoods, and communities – we are acting out our faith that God is still at work here, for we know that he is the one who will bring about the harvest of our efforts. And we are expressing our hope that he is indeed true to his words, “See, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5). So let us guard against pious pessimism. Rather, as theologian and gardener Vigen Guroian charges, “Let every Christian be a gardener so that he and she and the whole of creation, which groans in expectation of the earth’s final harvest, may inherit Paradise” (Guroian, 1999, p.17).
Prayer
Lord God, forgive me when I let pessimism tarnish my hope in your redemptive work in the world. Make me a fellow gardener with you to bring your light and life into my community, for your glory. Amen.
Application
Have you become inactive from pessimism? Write down one way that, using your God-given gifts, you can sow goodness and beauty in your little patch of the world. Commit it to the Lord and get to work!
Related Reading
Isaiah 61:3; John 15:1-4; 2 Timothy 2:21; Hebrews 3:6
Worship Resource
Keith and Kristyn Getty: This is My Father’s World
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