ABOVE: CLICK VIDEO FOR A BEAUTIFUL RENDITION OF "IN THE GARDEN" BY ELVIS.
It’s easy to see gardens as a metaphor for individuals (including singles), married couples and children.
In all of the cases, the analogy goes two ways.
First, we see that a person could walk in a garden and meet with Jesus like few other places in the world when you consider the precious precedent of walking in the cool of the day in The Garden of Eden - not to mention the intimate fellowship that the disciples had with their Master in The Garden of Gethsemane.
Second, we could look at it as if we were the garden and Jesus was the tender.
With regard to singles, it is truly intimate. One can’t help but think of “In The Garden,” that sweet hymn that somehow captures our budding or mature relationship with Christ like a snapshot of a bride next to a rose bush.
Marriage metaphors abound like overgrown forsythia. Who can deny that gardens burst forth from marriages made in heaven. The analogies of sacrifice, service and romance wind like an endless garden path through life.
Children metaphors stand out in a garden. Even as a young father, I saw my girls blossom like flowers until they were radiant walking down the aisle.
Put a “Spring” in your step and go pick your metaphor.
PORTAL TO HEAVEN: Only a God of beauty could design what fills a garden. Let your senses run wild and you will find yourself staring into a gorgeous portal to heaven.
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the ma17