I neglected to announce opening day in my garden, but it truly was a special day, as it always is each and every year.

Preliminary plans were in the works…including purchases of seed starter, mulch, frost-tolerant plants and seeds and the overturning of our own stash of homemade compost.

The Northeast is full of surprises each year regarding the last frost date. Sometimes it just requires faith and prayer to know when it is safe to plant. Like every aspect of our garden, God has the last word, not the frost zone charts.

There is always great anticipation not only for a future plentiful harvest but the many spiritual lessons to be learned in the dirt. At least for me.

Experimentation comes along with the gardening experience and usually includes a surprise here and there. At the end of last harvest season, I learned about overwintering plants. Yes, that is a real word for the process of digging up plants in the fall, pruning and preparing them to go dormant for the winter so they may be replanted in the spring. The verdict is still out on this experiment, as those overwintered plants still look a bit sad. I’m not quite ready to call them dead yet or even to try to figure out the lesson learned.

This year, a fresh lesson was waiting for me, even before opening day. Each year in early spring I have the desire to start plants indoors with seeds. This year I actually put together a plan and followed through…the first experiment of the year. I used seed discs, expandable dirt about the size of a quarter which holds 1-2 seeds. I chose a couple of vegetables that are best to plant in warmer weather. With prayer and a small measure of faith, seeds started sprouting from one tray. What I observed over the next few days was remarkable. Yes, God had a message for me through these mini-spurts. I’m not even sure I could call them actual seedlings because they are so tiny. As they began to grow, I noticed they were facing the direction of the sunlight. I decided to turn around the tray in the opposite direction to see if they would respond. The very next morning I was amazed. Yes, indeed they changed direction to follow the light. Well, you might know where I’m going with this and how many scriptures come to mind about following the light.

If a tiny seed that’s grown to one inch in height can figure out where the light is and go after it, “knowing” it will bring life, what does that say about us who have a soul and spirit AND the Word of God? Yet, why are we still attracted to darkness? Flesh? Our fallen sin nature? Nevertheless, because we have a soul and a spirit, unlike our baby sprouts, we do indeed have the choice of whether to follow the light or reject the dark.

Considering that light was God’s first miracle of creation, He has a lot to say about it in His word. In fact, 253 times! Thirty-one in the book of Job alone. (Consider that for a moment)

Of the 253 times light is mentioned in the Bible, let’s consider one of the most powerful truths about light from the very words of our Lord Jesus.  

“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12

We are called to be light bearers, to shine Jesus’ light in this dark world. After all, according to Him, we are the light of the world. (see Matt 5:14-16) This incredible promise in John 8:12 tells us as long as we follow Him, we won’t walk in darkness as we walk in His light.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” If we prepare ourselves ahead of time to continually follow the Light of the world, we will prevent the pitfalls and consequences of darkness.  We do that by putting on our armor, surrendering to God’s will and having ready scriptures about light in our arsenal to declare in the presence of our enemies. The darkness has to flee!

Sorry, I was not able to adequately capture my science experiment on camera, but I hope you get the visual of these tiny seedlings following the light to grow. May we daily do the same.