Life In God's Garden

Our June theme for the Today devotions, written by Rev. Don Byker, is “Life in God’s Garden.”

Do you live on a farm where many acres of land are planted and harvested each year? Or maybe you are a city-dweller who has turned a small section of your yard into a garden. Or perhaps you have just a few potted tomatoes or herbs growing on your patio. Maybe you are none of the above.

I confess that I fit into the latter category. I’m not a gardener. I enjoy the results of someone else’s hard work when I buy produce at the local farmer’s market, but often I have to be content with produce from the grocery store.

Many people who are gardeners find it very therapeutic. They enjoy getting dirty as they dig into the soil to cultivate, plant, and weed. They especially enjoy picking ripe strawberries or raspberries, digging up hills of potatoes, or plucking sweet corn from the stalk.

Don Byker, our writer for June’s Today devotionals, has been an avid gardener for many years. He’s also a pastor and a student of God’s Word. Using the topic “Life in God’s Garden,” his writings this month focus on the world as God’s garden. They also tell us how God tends his garden, and how he cultivates and nourishes his children to become the kind of people he wants them to be. He uses references to gardening and harvesting from Scripture to drive his point home. And finally, he helps us look ahead to the time when there will be no more weeds or pruning—when those who follow Christ will enjoy eternity with him in a new heavenly “garden-city.”

Don Byker is a gardener and a pastor who has served in a variety of churches and institutional settings since 1984. If you want to hear more of Rev. Byker’s thoughts as he wrote these devotions, please listen to this audio interview.