Part II
Do you like turnips? I doubt that turnips are your favorite vegetable. Whether or not you like turnips, there are three turnips that you need in your life’s garden. These turnips are: “Turnip” with a smile, “turnip” for church, and “turnip” with a commitment to excellence
“Turnip” with a smile. A smile is one of the most effective tools you and I have that can bring about change. It is a change agent, and yet few of us use it very often. It won’t cost you a thing to smile, but it could cost you if you don’t.
Proverbs 15:30 says, “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.” The look on your face can bring joy to the heart of those around you, even to strangers you meet in your day’s work.
Now, some of us smile very naturally, others of us have to be more intentional about it. Because I tend to be a project-oriented person, I’ve learned that I must remember to smile. So I began praying about that some years ago, that God would remind me that a cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and help me remember to smile at people. For one thing, it causes you to take your mind off yourself, if only for an instant, and focus on someone else, and that is always good.
If smiling doesn’t come easy for you, I want to encourage you to make it a matter of prayer and become intentional about it each day. Whatever you have to do, “turnip” with a smile and just see how it changes the atmosphere around you.
“Turnip” for church. Some Christians seem to have a take-it-or-leave-it attitude toward church attendance. If they feel good, if they get up in time, if they like the preacher, if the music suits them, they go to church. But if they’ve had a rough week, or somebody hurt their feelings, or they just don’t feel so good, they find it very easy to skip church.
In Hebrews 10:25 we are told, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Are you in the habit of turning up for church? I hope so. It’s one “turnip” you definitely need in your garden.
You’ve no doubt heard the old 80/20 principle: Twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work. Unfortunately, that happens far too often in our churches. You have a small group of faithful, hardworking members who are there through thick and thin, keeping things going and making a difference. Then you have a large group who just show up when it’s convenient, and never carry their share of the workload.
I often imagine how effective our churches could be in reaching our communities and the world if the statistics changed even just slightly. What if we had fifty percent of our members really involved in the life of the church? I get excited just thinking about the difference it would make. Let me ask you: Are you part of the faithful twenty percent or part of the mediocre eighty percent?
“Turnip” with excellence. It’s easy to get in the “this is the way we’ve always done it” rut. I challenge you to look at every job and responsibility you have—at home, at work, at church—and ask yourself, “Is there any ‘wow’ in it? What could I do to really spark this thing up and make it excellent?” It makes life so much more interesting to “turnip” with excellence, and it is of far greater glory to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul wrote to the Colossians: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23). If we took this one verse seriously in all areas of our lives, it could cause some dramatic changes. Do you work for someone now who is difficult? Are you dissatisfied with your job or your boss? If so, that could easily cause you to work half-heartedly, to just get by. But if you decide you’re really going to work with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for people, it will energize you to want to “turnip” with excellence—to do your best.
You may not be able to change jobs, but you can change employers! You can choose to work for Jesus, and each day just keep reminding yourself that you report to him. What you can’t do for people you can do for Jesus. It could have a transforming effect on your performance, on your attitude, and—who knows—perhaps even on your relationships.
So, along with your three rows of peas and squash and lettuce, don’t forget to plant your three rows of turnips in the garden of your heart.
To conclude our garden, you also need a special spice and that is thyme: “Thyme” for God, “thyme” for family and “thyme” for fun.
“Thyme” for God. Jesus said, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). This is the key to balance and proper priorities in our lives. It is so simple, but so profound. God must have first place in our lives, and that means we must give him time: time for his Word and prayer, and personal one-on-one time with God each day.
Gratefully we live under grace, not under law, so we are not burdened with some set of rules or rituals which we must follow everyday in order to be approved by God. The door to his throne room is always open to us, and we are invited to approach his throne with boldness, where we will find grace and mercy to help us in our time of need. God makes himself available to us—the very idea of that should cause us to stop in our tracks and recognize the great privilege of having a one-on-one relationship with the God of the universe, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
But even with that open, personal invitation, how often do we put time with God on the backburner of our days, planning to get around to it, but never really making time with God the priority it should be. Don’t you know that the enemy of your soul will do anything he can to keep you from developing a consistent time with God? He is acutely aware that we become effective in God’s kingdom as we get to know him better, as we develop a deeper and deeper relationship with him through his word and prayer.
I know in my own life it is a never-ending battle to keep time with God at the top of my priorities. Our busy lives can cause us to make unwise priority decisions. But I’m still convinced that we all do what we really want to do. So, the amount of time we put aside for God, for time in his word and in prayer, is a strong indicator of how much we really want to get to know God.
“Thyme” for family. In our busy worlds often we neglect those closest to us. You may be working to provide for your family, but your family needs time with you. Sometimes we have to carve out this family time and make it happen. It may mean turning off televisions or slowing down our pace. But we need time for family.
Our society moves at an ever-increasing pace, and too often we throw out the baby with the bath water, as the saying goes. Few families even have dinner together on a regular basis any longer. Everybody is going in too many different directions. But you know, if you recognize how important it is to have family time, you can set up some standards and practices that will keep your family time sacred.
I know couples who are very careful to plan time together for themselves, because they recognize that keeping their marriage strong is the key to a strong, healthy family life. I spoke with a family recently who decided to do away with television in their home—which sounds like a very drastic move in our culture, doesn’t it? But they reported that it has made such a huge positive difference in their family life, and the kids don’t mind it at all. They show good clean movies on DVD’s on their television set, and they say that’s all they need.
“Thyme” for fun. God created us with a need for laughter and fun and rest. We have to make time for these things in order to have a truly balanced garden.
Is there a lot of laughter in your life—in your home—where you work? We can just get too heavy sometimes, can’t we? Sometimes life seems to be heavy all the time, but laughter is God’s gift to lighten our load. Laughter is an amazing release valve, and we should always look for opportunities to laugh and enjoy life.
If you’re a manager on the job, have you ever thought about how you could bring more fun into the workplace? There are many ways to lighten the atmosphere on the job and make the workplace a more cheerful place to be. Don’t you know that people work better when the mood is lightened through some fun and laughter?
So, here are the plants we need to sow in the garden of our hearts:
- Three rows of “peas”: Peace of soul, peace of mind, peace of heart.
- Three rows of squash: Squash gossip, squash indifference, squash selfishness.
- Three rows of lettuce: Let us be faithful, let us be pure, and let us love one another.
- Three rows of turnips: Turn up with a smile, turn up for church and turn up with excellence.
- Three rows of thyme: Time for God, time for family and time for fun.
Once we’ve planted the garden, then we have to maintain it. Water it freely with patience and cultivate with love. We have to be diligent about pulling up the weeds that start to grow, like the weed of bitterness or the weed of laziness. Gardens take time and hard work, but they yield a beautiful result.
When we carefully take care of the gardens of our hearts, then we will bear much fruit. Jesus said, “If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. . . This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:5, 8). That’s our purpose and objective in developing our heart-gardens: To bring glory to the Father and to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ.
But how do you do it? You pray this garden into your life. You become intentional about these specific areas and make it a daily objective to let God grow this beautiful garden in your heart. He will do it if we give him permission.
To download a set of “How Does Your Garden Grow” cards, Click on this link:
https://christianworkingwoman.org/resources/radio-offers/