Gardening the Soul: God's Higher Ways

Isaiah has directed the thirsty to "come”, “listen", and now, to "forsake.”

Let the wicked forsake his way
   and the evil man his thoughts. . . .
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.
As the heavens are higher than the earth,  
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts." Is.55:9,10

Pruning our corrupt thoughts and ways as we embrace God's infinitely higher thoughts and ways is the final step—and the step that shows that we are drinking from God’s word.

There is a close connection between hearing and doing in the Bible—the New Testament word for "hear" is often translated "obey.” But many of us are content to adopt God’s thoughts with incorporating them into our ways. When workers at a U.S. corporation were surveyed, they reported that their lives were "too crowded, their time with their children too limited." Furthermore they wanted "extra time at home."  Attempting to help employees balance work and home, this family-friendly company offered part-time, "flexplace" (allowing workers to work at home), and "flextime" (allowing workers to start their day early or late) work. And new mothers were allowed to work part-time but retain full-time benefits. What was the result? Flextime was the only policy that workers used significantly. It's one thing to say you want more family time; it is quite another to act on that idea.

What thoughts is God asking you to translate into “ways”?

Ø  Has God revealed a selfish attitude toward your leisure? Then begin practicing his higher ways by inviting a lonely neighbor for dinner or by mentoring a fatherless child.

Ø  Has God reminded you that a friend is in pain? Then call her today to offer some comfort.

Ø  Has God reminded you that your ways have not included any regular fellowship with him? Then change the pattern of your days to include him.

Ø  Has God reminded you that you and your wife need regular time without the kids? Then hire a weekly babysitter for you and your wife’s date night.

Your auditory canals are clogged if God’s thoughts are not also transforming your ways.

Gardening the Soul: Habitual Drinkers

As young Christians, Cathy and I were challenged to commit a realistic amount of time to drink daily from God's word—we settled on five minutes. As we were developing our habit, there were many nights we fell into bed exhausted, turned out the lights, and one of us would ask: "Have you had your five minutes today?" If one or both of us had not, the lights would come back on, and we would spend some time communing with God. I am thankful our pledge was small. If our promise had been 25-30 minutes of time with God, the bedtime question—“Have you had your five minutes?"--would  have never been asked, and the budding habit would have dropped to the ground without bearing fruit.

I am not suggesting that five minutes of Bible reading will adequately water a life anymore than morning dew will sustain a garden. When Isaiah proclaims that God's feast can be enjoyed by those who have no money, he wasn't implying that it has no cost. He asks: Why spend your labor on what is not bread? Our labor is the admission fee to this feast. Every summer I spend countless hours dragging hoses all over my yard watering bushes, trees, and gardens. Could the watering of my life require any less effort? The five minutes was a daily minimum designed to establish a habit. I won't regularly hear God's voice unless I discipline myself to diligently study his word--meditatively, repeatedly, prayerfully. As I study a section of the Bible, I read it several days in a row. I listen to the same section on my CD player while driving in the car. I listen to it on my Bible Ap while I walk. The simple vow that Cathy and I made forty years ago has grown into a steady, all life rain for our souls.

Not long ago I received the student evaluations for my Introduction to the Bible class. One question asked: "What did you appreciate most about the course?" Several students reported that the highlight was the assigned reading in the Bible. At first I was disappointed -- "What about my great lectures? What about my mature, Christian model? What about my scholarship?" But as I thought further, I was elated. My highest hope for students is to connect them to God through his word. It is God's word that causes lives to bud and flourish. It is God's word that is an imperishable seed, perennially sprouting new growth. It is God's word that is more precious than gold or silver. It is God's word that carries divine power to demolish strongholds. It is God's word that will cause us to be thoroughly equipped for every good work. It is God's word that can slice through the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” And I want my students to be most impressed with my lectures?! "No! No! No!" A thousand times "No!"

Gardening the Soul: Watering With God's Word

Isaiah's repeated calls to come  and to listen to God imply a recurrent showering of our lives with God's truth. This past year my state has endured an extended drought that has left the ground rock-hard.  When a thunderstorm recently dumped a quick, heavy rain, that hardness prevented much of the water from being absorbed. The plants would have benefited more from a slow, all-day soaker. Similarly, it is the slow, steady soaking of God's word that most effectively waters my life. If I go for long periods of time without drinking from God's word, I become increasingly hardened to his voice. Thus Isaiah warned: Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. (v.6)

A friend of author Philip Yancey wanted to know if God would forgive him if he dissolved his fifteen-year marriage that had produced three children and no crushing problems. He wanted to ditch his wife and pursue his lover. Yancey didn't answer the question immediately, afraid that a "Yes" answer would only strengthen his friend's resolve to end his marriage. As Yancey thought and prayed, he finally answered:

Can God forgive you? Of course. You know the Bible. . . . [But] what we have to go through to commit sin distances us from God—we change in the very act of rebellion—and there is no guarantee we will ever come back. You ask me about forgiveness now, but will you even want it later, especially if it involves repentance?

Sin packs the ground of our hearts, forming a hard pan between God and us. The longer our rebellion, the thicker that barrier becomes. Yancey's friend steeled his heart toward God and abandoned his family. As yet, there has been no evidence of any softening toward God. Only land that drinks in the rain often falling on it . . . receives the blessing of God. (Heb.6:7) It is the habit of drinking we must establish.

Gardening the Soul: Listening to God

Isaiah's invitation to come to God's feast has a catch--we  must come with open ears:  Listen, listen to me, . . . Give ear . . . hear me . . . God sounds like a frustrated parent.

"Listen up!"
"You're not listening to me."
"Did you hear what I said?"
"Look at me while I am talking to you."
"We better go to the doctor and have your hearing checked!"

I tell my child, "You're not listening to me." He complains that he did, perfectly repeating my words. But I'm not satisfied because I know he hasn't really grasped the meaning of my words. This was the problem in Isaiah's day and why he literally chided them: in your hearing, hear! As God's child I can read my Bible daily. I can gain mountains of Biblical knowledge. I can memorize long sections of God's word. But I may still be deaf to God's true message.

Katie Cocker, in the Lee Smith novel, The Devil's Dream, was a country singer who married her capable but crooked manager. Wayne was a violent drunkard whose all-consuming passion was to turn Katie into a star by any means. Soon after Wayne was arrested for his money-raising schemes, Katie went to the hospital to recover from nervous exhaustion. As she laid in bed, she could see more clearly what sort of man she had married:

I had to admit, in my heart, that I had known, someplace deep down where I was not admitting it, that he was up to no good. I knew he was breaking the law. I reckon I had come to think Wayne was above the law, or beyond it some way. But I also knew better. You always know everything, don't you? You won't let yourself know you know it, a lot of times you can't let yourself know it, because you can't stand to know what you know.

The fame and the fortune caused Katie to shut her ears to the rumblings of her husband's corrupt life. She muffled her conscience so that it wouldn’t threaten her "good" life. Don’t we treat God this way? We banish any serious thought about the real-life meaning and application of his Truth because we want to cling to our fumbling, though familiar, life. Ignorance is bliss . . . for a while.

Gardening the Soul: A Fruitful Life

No one begins life thinking: "I want to make a mess out of my life." But many end up with barren lives because they don't know or follow God's way of producing fruit:

As the rain and snow come down from heaven,

  and do not return to it without watering the earth

   and making it bud and flourish, . . .

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

  it will not return to me empty,

  but will accomplish what I desire

  and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.  (55:10,11)                                         

There is an endless cycle. Water falls as rain or snow, it is soaked up by the ground, absorbed by plants, transpires into the atmosphere, and  descends, again, as moisture. This cycle has its intended impact, causing the earth to bud and flourish. This prospering of the earth is a picture for us: As the rain . . . so is my word. God showers the earth with his word. But before cycling back to God, he claims: It will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. It is God's word that produces fruitful lives.

But Dr. Larry Crabb warns that many Christians have radically changed their view of how people bud and flourish. Instead of each person being a "fallen soul hungry for God," each is a "psychological self capable of being damaged.” The former seeks healing through an intimate bond with Christ and his word. The latter seeks healing by unraveling the complex dynamics of the soul—something that often requires professional help. Dr. Elizabeth Loftus explains the goal of most modern therapy:

  The central question—“Who am I?"—has been reduced by modern psychotherapy to "how did I get this way?" To understand who we are and why we are the way we are, many therapists encourage us to go back to our childhoods and find out what happened to us there. If we are in pain, we are told there must be a cause; if we cannot locate the cause, we have not looked deep enough. And on goes the search to find the truth of our lives in the memories we have and the memories we have lost.

A woman I know has spent years rummaging in the murky memories of her adolescence trying to recall the details of suspected sexual abuse. Is all of this digging wise?

Though the past can certainly enlighten the present, the dominant view of the Bible is that healing occurs when we develop a love for God through his word. Have you felt rejected by an absent father? Jesus promised: I will never fail you or forsake you. (Heb.13:5) Have you been ridiculed for a physical flaw? God's word informs you that man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. (I Sam.16:7) Were your needs ignored after your parents' disturbing divorce? Jesus encourages you that your heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Mt.6:8) As Isaiah promised, watering our lives with God's word will unfailingly produce a fruitful life.

Gardening the Soul: Communing with the Host of the Party

I am holding in my hands my invitation to this phenomenal feast (Is.55). But as I read my invite more carefully, I am stunned! I am not directed to a distant corner of the banquet hall where I need binoculars to see the head table. I am ushered to the front where I can commune with the Host of the party: "listen to me. . . come to me. . . hear me.”  As J.I. Packer reminds us, "God sends His word to us in the character of both information and invitation. It comes to woo us as well as to instruct us."

Thus, whenever I accept God's invitation to commune with Him through his word, I am not coming to a book that is dated and dusty. I find the life-nourishing words of the living God speaking to me. A.W. Tozer explains: "A loving Personality dominates the Bible, walking among the trees of the garden and breathing fragrance over every scene. Always a living Person is present, speaking, pleading, loving, working, and manifesting Himself whenever and wherever His people have the receptivity necessary to receive the manifestation."

I recently visited a Christian college classroom that was studying the gospels. After some small group discussion, the professor concluded with a lecture. But he never opened his Bible. He never quoted the Bible. Though he cited a few Biblical references, he spent most of his time reading quotes from other sources. Though there is a critical role for Christian books (I hope someone reads my books!), Christian education often leans too heavily on these books. These books can never be a substitute for teaching students how to meet with God through his word. We must all develop the ability to draw water for ourselves,  drinking deeply from God’s unlimited well.

Is there an emptiness in your busyness? Do you frequently experience an aching loneliness even though your days are filled with stimulating people and meaningful work? Then shut this book. Find a quiet place. Take your Bible and a notebook—read, listen, pray, ask, write, pray, ask, write, read, listen, pray. Ask God to pour his living water into your parched soul.

Gardening the Soul: Free Water

Wall Drug Store in Wall, South Dakota has become a “must-stop” for many western family vacations. The store built its business by offering free ice water to scorched sightseers. (Did other establishments charge for it?!) God also offers free water:

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;
and you, who have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk, without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy.
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. (55:1-3)

I am repeatedly invited to come, to drink from these free waters. These waters expand into a banquet—the richest of fare. A number of years ago while living in Tampa we were invited to a lavish party to use up a budget surplus at one of the city's country clubs. What a feast! There were bowls of fresh fruits—cantaloupe, strawberries, pineapple; freshly baked breads and muffins; bowls of diverse salads—a tangy potato salad, an exquisite crab salad; plates loaded with crisp, southern fried chicken; a rack of medium-rare prime rib; numerous vegetables: steamed broccoli, honey-glazed carrots, etc. But the prize for my palate was the seafood: mounds of boiled shrimp, steamed crabs, broiled lobster tails, fried grouper. As a guest it was all free, with only one limit—the size of my stomach! But God calls us to come to an even more extravagant feast: eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. This “soul food” is eternally more delectable than an all-you-can-eat gourmet buffet. It alone will quench my deepest thirsts.

Isaiah's invitation is sent to all you who are thirsty. Though all human seedlings are thirsty, not all recognize their thirst. A few years ago I was explaining the course requirements to the students in Intro to the Bible when one asked: "Why do I need to study the Bible? I figure that on a scale of one to ten, my life rates about a six or a seven. Why do I need this book and this class?” What a challenge! I was requiring these students to sacrifice their Saturday mornings for class, asking them to read large sections of the Bible and other books, assigning a lengthy research project. But if I couldn't explain the relevance of this work, I would have lost one student, and possibly, many more.

I screamed a silent "Help!" toward heaven to answer my student's sincere question. God brought this answer to my mind: "During the early years of my marriage I thought I was a pretty good husband. If I had graded our marriage I would have given it about a "B"—that was averaging my "A" and Cathy's "C"! Each time we had a conflict, Cathy ended up tearfully confessing her faults. I graciously accepted her apologies and promised to pray for her. But during my second year in seminary, I enrolled in a course on Biblical family life. And as I was exposed to God's perspective on marriage, I saw that it was my life that was parched: "Lord, I am the one who needs the most help. Change me." I explained to my student that apart from God’s word we can be deceived. But when we drink regularly from God’s word, it shows  who we are and who we can become. Drink up!