Images from God: Search results for Hose

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Saturday, September 18, 2004

A Garden Hose as a Metaphor for the Productive Christian Life: Serving Our True Purpose (part 1 of 6)

What can Christians learn from a garden hose? Quite a bit.

As we’ll see in this and five following posts, we can learn about the importance of serving our true purpose, the importance of staying connected to God, some of the problems that can limit our effectiveness for God, some solutions to those problems, the necessity of adapting to humble circumstances, and about the seasonal nature of productivity.

First of all, a hose shows us how important it is to use our lives for the purpose God intended. A hose can be used for other things besides moving water, but the results will be substandard. For example, a hose can be used like a rope to bind something, but the knot won’t last and the hose will likely be damaged in the process. Used for its intended purpose, that same hose can successfully accomplish many things, from watering a garden to washing a car—and do so far more effectively than it could tie something together. It is a simply a waste to use a hose for any other purpose.

The same is true of people. God has specific a purpose for each of us and we are each specially designed for our particular purpose. Both the ultimate value and immediate quality of our lives are directly related to how closely we follow His plan. We can accomplish wonderful things if we direct our energies to what He intends, but will be next to worthless, and unhappy, if we do not. The lesson is clear—we and others are blessed if we follow God’s call and hurt if we don’t.

(A series of four images dealing with this theme were posted on September 18, 2004 here, here, here and here. Images based on other water related themes were posted on September 12b, October 1, November 6, 7, and 10, 2004.

Images about conforming/yielding to God were posted September 12a, 18a, 18b, 18d, and 23; October 3 and 3a, November 6; and 21, December 8, 12, and 15, 2004 and January 10d, February 18, May 11, June 18 and 27; August 21 and 27; and October 3, 2005.)

Monday, August 12, 2019

What we can learn about being productive Christians from a garden hose: diversity produces fruitfulness

Our garden needs water in multiple, spatially separated, spaces. We draw that water from a pond through an underground pipe and use different kinds of hoses to get the water to where it’s needed within the garden: a leader hose, contractor’s hoses, and drip irrigation hoses. Each performs a distinct function. The leader hose connects the contractor’s hoses to the underground pipe. The contactor’s hoses move water from there to the drip hoses within each bed. The drip hoses actually deliver the water to individual plants. As distinct as those kinds of hoses are, they each serve a common purpose: to deliver life giving water.

None of those types of hoses could perform their particular functions without the others. The drip hoses would have no water to deliver if that water was not first moved by the contractor’s hoses. Those hoses could not move that water if the leader hose had not first connected them to the pipe. Each hose plays an indispensable part, but none could play its part without the others.

And none of those hoses could adequately perform the others’ functions. The contractor’s hoses cannot deliver water to individual plants with the precision needed; more water would be wasted than properly used. The drip hoses would be a woefully inefficient means to move water from point to point within the garden. The leader hose could only water plants within a few feet of the pipe. But put together, those hoses cover our entire garden.

The same dynamics are present within the Church. We each have different natures and capabilities, but we all serve a common, transcendent, purpose—delivering God’s goodness to a parched world. None of us can fulfil our parts in that mission without others who are different from us, and none of us can adequately perform the tasks that God designed others to perform. And most importantly, none of us can do that without God.

Those concepts are not new (See Romans 12:4-8, Romans 12:4-30, Ephesians 4:11-13), but they are especially relevant in these polarized times. That polarization means that fulfilling God’s purpose is all the more urgent, just as a properly functioning irrigation system is more urgently needed during dry spells.

So what does that mean for our day-to-day lives? Several things come to mind.

First, and most importantly, we must be connected to the source: God. None of our hoses can do any good unless they are securely connected to the pipe. The same is true of individual believers: we cannot deliver God’s goodness unless we abide in Jesus and move in the power of the Holy Spirit. So we must secure and maintain our connection to God through regular time in scripture and ongoing prayer.

Second, we need to recognize that we do have a mission—delivering God’s goodness in this increasingly distressed world. He does not bless us solely for our own sake, He blesses us so we can serve others. We are each created and called to do that in different ways, but we each have that purpose. We need to get busy doing that in whatever way(s) God equipped us. It’s time to get up from the pews and get down to actively serving others.

Third, we must realize that we cannot fulfill that mission by ourselves; we must work with others who are different from us to get it done. Differences and diversity are good and vital; they give us capabilities we need but lack on our own. We must get out of our bubbles to achieve what God wants done.

Fourth, we must make real connections with those who are different from us. Just as one type of hose must have a solid connection with other, different, types of hoses to complete their common purpose, we must genuinely connect with others who are different from us to achieve what God expects of us.

Do those things come naturally? Not really, but they are doable if we connect to God, ask Him to help us, and let Him flow through us.

Sunday, June 16, 2019

What we can learn about being productive Christians from a garden hose (collected)

What we can learn about being productive Christians from a garden hose: Serving our true purpose

What we can learn about being productive Christians from a garden hose: Being connected to the source

What we can learn about being productive Christians from a garden hose: Problems that limit productivity

What we can learn about being productive Christians from a garden hose: solutions to those problems

What we can learn about being productive Christians from a garden hose: Accepting Humble Circumstances

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Gardening Themed Scripture Meditations—topically organized series and stand-alone meditations

Over the years we have posted a number of gardening themed meditations on scripture and spiritual matters. Some are topically organized series, while other are stand-alone meditations. They are collected here for your use, with very short summaries of what they address. May God bless you through them

I. Series

John 15 Series:

John 15:1--Growing God's Joy

John 15:1--On the other hand...

God’s joy as we grow in Him

The disappointment we cause by failing to be fruitful & God’s gracious response

John 15:1--Don't fire the Gardener

Trusting God through tough things

John 15:2--unfruitful branches, part 1

John 15:2--unfruitful branches, part 2

Pruning is motivated by God’s love

Pruning happens when we fail to heed God’s directions

John 15:2--Pruning Part 1--What is Pruning?

The agricultural bases of pruning

John 15:2--Pruning Part 2--We All Need Pruned

John 15:2--Pruning Part 3--Removing Obstacles to God's Light

We all need pruned at some point/in some way

Getting into & reflecting God’s light

John 15:2--Part 4--Pruning Through Adversity

John 15:2--Part 5--How to Respond to Pruning Through Adversity

God lets us go through tough stuff to remove obstacles to fruitfulness

Looking forward to fruitfulness, looking for the lesson(s), dealing with emotional reactions, remembering God’s loving nature & purposes

John 15:2--Pruning through Counsel

The necessity of good counsel

John 15:3--More about Pruning

Pruning through the Word, pruning does not result in perfection

Composting themed

Series one

What we can learn about the Christian Life from Composting--Part 1--The end product is greater than the sum of its parts

We produce more good in community than we do separately

What we can learn about the Christian life from composting--Part 2--Good things come from humble ingredients

God draws the most from the least

What we can learn about the Christian Life from composting--Part 3--the ingredients must be transformed by something beyond themselves

We need God’s inputs to achieve all the good he created us for

What we can learn about the Christian life from composting--Part 4--We have to go through tough stuff, but God gets us through

We have to go through tough stuff to reach our full potential, but God gives us ways to get through it (prayer, perspective, and serving others)

Series two:

Another insight from composting--Utility

We are saved and sanctified in order to serve

Another insight from composting--Transformation

We have to let God transform us to do all the good he created us for

Another insight from composting--Beyond the dramatic

Living out our faith/purpose in the mundane

Another insight from composting--Multiple fruits

God will produce multiple kinds of good from individual acts of service, so get busy, ask the Spirit for His help, and make yourself available to His insights

Another insight from composting--Credit where credit is due

How to respond to God’s blessings

Isaiah 5:1-2 Series:

Introduction

God calls us to Him

God’s invitations to intimacy

Fruitfulness sometimes requires hardship

We must sometimes go through tough stuff to reach the fruitfulness God created us for

Healthy responses to "compaction."

Loosening up so God’s seeds can grow to full fruitfulness

Getting rid of "stones"

Dealing with imbedded obstacles to fruitfulness