Every place we have lived, with one exception, I have had a rose garden. The most roses I have ever had was over 100! I now have only 4. Through the years I have had a variety of colors and fragrances that have been a joy to cultivate, care for and utilize in my home. Many people are leery of roses because they do need attention. Varieties of roses have been cultivated over the years that do not need as much attention. They don’t need to be dead-headed or pruned. These are mostly the varieties that grow like other bushes. You see them often in cityscapes.
Roses gardening is a labor of love. I prune mine the first week in January. If roses are not pruned, they can get leggy and too big. I cut them back as far as I can so that they don’t get too big for the space they are in. Pruning rose bushes takes only a bit of know-how. You must look carefully to see where a new bud is forming and then cut at a diagonal right above the new bud.
New leaves begin to grow and eventually, the canes begin to produce flower buds. It may take a couple of months before any buds begin to appear. I love to go out a look to see how they are progressing!
A few weeks ago, Glenn and I went to the local Home Depot. I wanted to purchase one more bare-root rose as I had transplanted a bush that was too big for the space where I had three roses. I had a particular rose in mind that I wanted. I had had this rose at our previous home and really wanted another one as it had the most wonderful fragrance and color! I was thrilled when I found one at the store! We brought it home and I quickly went to work to prepare the spot where I wanted to plant it. Glenn brought some planting soil from around the back of the house as I dug a suitable hole in the ground.
If you are not familiar with bare-root roses, they come in a plastic pot with soaked peat moss around the roots. When the plant is taken from the pot the roots are all exposed.
So, my hole was prepared, and I threw some planting mix into the hole and mounded it up like a cone so that the roots would set on top of the mound. I pulled the plant straight up from the pot, turned my wrist over, and plopped it into the hole. I began to fill the hole in and just about had it full when Glenn exclaimed, “It’s upside down”! Sure enough! The canes were in the ground and the thin, spiney roots were blowing in the light breeze! We laughed pretty hard!
I quickly pulled it out, re-dug the hole, and put the rose back in right-side up! Whew! If Glenn had not been there observing what I was doing I might have left the bush in the ground upside down! And it might have taken me a while to figure it out.
Sometimes I stick my head in the ground and am oblivious to what is happening around me. I am upside down. But when I get righted, I am where I am supposed to be. And often it takes another to help me get righted up. I love my husband for being the one who helps me stay right side up.
The metaphor is like what we read in John 15. Jesus is the vine, his father is the keeper of the vineyard. The vines need pruning in order to bear great fruit. In the pruning process sometimes it is necessary to cut a branch, or a cane on a rose bush, off because it does not produce anything good anymore. But the bush can still grow even through that process.
As I have tended roses through the years, I have learned that I am a lot like them. I have thorns that may stick and hurt others when I feel afraid or threatened or angry. I can dress myself up to look pretty and smell good, but the thorns are still underneath. I need the care and guidance of Someone greater than me to reach my full potential. Sometimes I need water, sometimes I need food, sometimes I need pruning.
The symbol of the growth of the rose is much like the growth of a person. We are born bare. We are born with a sin nature. We are not fully grown or developed. We are like a bare root rose, covered with thorns. We need a Gardener to tend to us and help us grow to our full potential.
Jesus is much like a gardener who tends the garden. Pruning, watering, feeding, and clipping are all part of encouraging the plant to grow to its fullest potential. It takes discipline to do this. Plants cannot be left unattended, or they will eventually die. They are dependent on the Gardner.
The Holy Spirit does this as we desire to grow to our full potential in Christ. Reading and studying the word, fellowshipping with other believers, and praying are ways that the Spirit helps us grow. Realizing the gifts of the Spirit and learning to use them for the glory of the Lord helps us produce significant growth whereby we produce fruit, or in my analogy – beautiful flowers. Then we become a sign for others to follow.
Psalm 1 has always been a favorite of mine that encourages me how to live rightly and have a bountiful life.
God’s blessings follow you and await you at every turn: when you don’t follow the advice of those who delight in wicked schemes, When you avoid sin’s highway, when judgment and sarcasm beckon you, but you refuse. 2 For you, the Eternal’s Word is your happiness. It is your focus—from dusk to dawn. 3 You are like a tree, planted by flowing, cool streams of water that never run dry. Your fruit ripens in its time; your leaves never fade or curl in the summer sun. No matter what you do, you prosper.
4 For those who focus on sin, the story is different. They are like the fallen husk of wheat, tossed by an open wind, left deserted and alone. 5 In the end, the wicked will fall in judgment; the guilty will be separated from the innocent. 6 Their road suddenly will end in death, yet the journey of the righteous has been charted by the Eternal.
Shalom!
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