Yesterday my two oldest sons gave me a lesson in discipleship. If you have read this weeks blog entry you will see that some of our community banded together to build us a vegetable garden on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning the boys ran inside to excitedly announce that they too had started a garden and wanted to use their4 pocket money to buy some plants. They took me down the overgrown bank and showed me four small holes the size of bread and butter plates. “Look at the garden we’re building” they said excitedly. I made enthusiastic noises, and then suggested that they use an old bath near by as their garden. I told them how to fill it with good soil and move it to a place with good sunlight. It was then their turn to make enthusiastic noises at me. After that they completely ignored my coaching and cheerfully continued to dig out little holes sporadically in the bank. Getting Mum involved they raced off to the Garden Centre where they purchased a random selection of flowers, some aquarium stones and their biggest purchase of all, a garden gnome! Not being able to cope with what appeared to be wonton destruction of the outdoors I avoided going outdoors for the rest of the day. When I did finally go and have a look I was taken aback. The boys had put one flower in each of the random holes. Around each hole they had placed the aquarium stones. And of course to crown it all off, there sat the gnome to greet the onlookers! It was a garden that was unique, beautiful, and completely owned by a very satisfied 7 and 10 year old.

Of course I realised the analogies to our Christian lives are enormous in this event and I won’t bore you with them all. The big thing that I felt reminded of is that each one of us is a new creation in Christ. We are a new design unlike any other believer. In the spiritual realm many of us have been turned into a classic rectangular garden with nice lines of plants but that is not unique. God called us not to be bricks in the wall but living stones perfectly fit together through Jesus Christ.

We are made by God to be like Designer garments, one off creations, not something yanked off the rack at the Warehouse where it sits with many other exactly the same garments.

God has called us not to make clones of what we think a believer should be and look like, but to take our hands off and release those around us to become the unique new creation they were called to be before the beginning of creation. We may not understand or recognise the living stone they have become as it is so different to our own but hopefully when we stand before the throne that simple step of letting those around us go and be who they are called to be will be credited to us as righteousness.

I am off now to water the lovely square garden with nice rows of vegetables made by adults (the bricks!), and the designer garden made by kids (living stones).

Have a Great Weekend