I still remember my childhood front yard garden like yesterday.

Dad and Mum knew it.

I still remember waking up with delight at the sight of an unfolding bean cotyledon.

My young eyes dangling with delight at the germinating groundnut seed I placed the other day. Gone are those days now.

28 years later, I find myself distant from that upcountry setting and dealing with a different garden altogether.

The garden of my heart.

It’s obvious that Gardens have soil, and Jesus in Mark 4 spends a lot of time on a beach (good choice of venue by the way) explaining to multitudes about the kind of things that happen when the seed of his word is deposited on soil, call it the “garden of our hearts” .

You’ve heard the story, uh? Seed on the wayside? Birds pick it up. Seed on stony ground, springs up, get’s scorched by the sun,and because it has no root, it dies.

On and on it goes, illustrations of what happens in the aftermath of sown seeds. Apostle Paul comes later with a somewhat similar expression.Again, using the word “sow”.

He warns us about the kinds of seeds we throw in our gardens.

“Do not be deceived…” he writes in Galatians 6:8 , “…God cannot be mocked, If you sow to the flesh, you will rip corruption and if you sow to the spirit you will reap life and peace.”

Looks like the seeds in our hands matter to God. Every thought, deed, every word,conversation as a seed waiting to be cast,on the ground of your heart.

And trust me, that determines whether the germination in our garden (like my childhood one) makes God’s eyes dangle with delight.

No wonder he cautions us to “guard our hearts with due diligence (Prov 4:23)”, He knows the kinds of things that can grow in our (not so)nice little gardens. If we leave them untendered.

Keep an eye on yours my friend.