I like my garden and enjoy spending time there.  I am getting ready for the funeral service for Mark Kreklau later on this morning and remembered something that Mark said in all the difficulty of the last weeks in hospital and all the  hassle and testing that was going on.  He said, “I just want to go home and sit on my patio and enjoy my garden”.  I like that.  I offered to join him there.  It never happened but it brought a memory back of a quote from – who else – Martin Luther.

In talking about our life and all of the forces arrayed against us as Christians he said, “We don’t live in a safe garden”.  I guess that is true.  Through much hardship we enter the Kingdom of heaven.  Paul talks about all the things that seek to seperate us from Christ in Romans 8.

Even in my garden I tie up the cats.  To keep them safe and to keep safe other things that want to come and enjoy it.  The Bible says that our great foe has been “tied up” and Jesus has plundered his house.  He freed us from the old evil foes dominion but…

WE don’t live in a safe garden.  Not in this life.  But we will.