The Garden Cultivator

His name is George, but everyone who knows him called him "The Garden Cultivator".

George was a business spokesman for his company, but his real passion in life is gardening. He loved the idea of turning a barren land into a beautiful banquet of colours; filling it with trees, flowers and fruits, herbs and everything good that can be planted. Attached to his home is a very good size of land, which spawns from the back towards to front of the house. It was this land that helped him make the decision to settle there with his wife Mary.

George spends every spare moment he has on this piece of land. Planting, sowing, watering; cultivating his garden. Over the years, he has transformed it into a beautiful and magnificent garden, which presents and explosion of colours and life. People travel from far and wide, just to see the beauty it represents. He even won the local gardener award this year, and has done so for the past three years. The local animals even testify to its beauty, even they seem to spend all their spare time in George's garden.

It has not been an easy task or journey to get this garden into such good condition. It has taken a lot of effort, determination, persistence and diligence to get there.

Along the way, he has also learnt valuable lessons of making sure the right seed is planted, at the right time, in the right season and even in the right corner of the garden!. This he learnt especially, five winters ago, when he bought some mango seeds from the local garden shop. They looked like proper seeds and the seller promised that once planted they would grow into a beautiful mango tree. That was not the case. A month after planting the seeds, a good part of his garden was covered with weeds, they were ferocious. Their roots went deep and it was extremely hard to get rid of them. Every time he cut them off, within a week they were back and with a vengeance. He however, eventually learnt how to cut them off from the roots and then treat that part of the garden with special weed repellent for to cure it permanently.

He promised himself to be more careful about his selection of seeds after that experience, and now he is know to travel far and wide to obtain good quality seeds, as only the best will do.

"To visualise Gorge's garden is to experience a soul thriving with life, represented in an explosion of colours, wrapped in the ambiance of love."

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Man is the cultivator of his mind. Our minds can be likened to a garden and we, are the gardeners. The thoughts we plant therein are the seeds. Just like George cultivates his land, every one of us cultivates the garden that is our mind. We either plant & cultivate bad or good 'thought seeds'.

The word 'Cultivate' means to:

• improve and prepare (land), as by plowing or fertilizing, for raising crops; till. or
• to promote or improve the growth of (a plant, crop, etc.) by labor and attention. or
• to develop or improve by education or training; train; refine: to cultivate a singing voice.

The word 'Gardening' is the:

• practice of growing plants for their attractive flowers or foliage, and vegetables or fruits for consumption.

We are responsible for the seeds we plant into our minds. The 'thoughts seeds' we cultivate is what will, eventually be (good or bad) manifested as our reality. Why? This is because our thoughts and characters are one.

"What we focus our minds on constantly, will eventually be part of our character. Thus we must be careful of what we meditate on because it forms our character and our character determines our actions."

Proverbs 23:7 reads "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee."

So my question for us today is: "What thought seeds are we planting into the garden that is our mind? Are cultivating seeds that will bring forth an explosion of colours and life or are we planting seeds that breed negativity and an explosion of darkness?"

In today's world, it is more important than ever, that we are mindful of the 'thought seeds' that we let settle in our mind garden; TV (a million channels, a million wrong and right seeds), magazine ( so many to choose from), radio, even from some pulpits!

So, how can we make sure we cultivate our minds with the right 'thought seeds'?

We can learn a few lessons from the great Psalmist David, as he writes in Psalms 119:9-11
How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Hiding God's words within the realms our hearts is an awesome weapon against weeds that might try to take hold. The word will act as weed repellent or weed killer; destroying any invasion of weeds and killing eliminate any weeds already taking hold.

Psalm 1: 1- 2 reads 1Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. 2 But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.

Meditating on the word of God is one of the best way to make sure that the garden of our mind is cultivated and ready for the right seeds to be planted.

Also, we should be conscious of our surroundings, not everything we see, hear or read is good for our mind's consumption. We must learn to ask the holy spirit for discernment, insight, knowledge and wisdom, to know what to accept and what to leave behind.

So here is me encouraging us all to be the best garden cultivator of our minds that we can be, for in doing so the manifestation will be to the glorification of God's name, thereby drawing people unto him.

Have a wonderful time cultivating your mind, spirit and soul; not forgetting to make God famous along the way.

Much Love

Remi Banjo

***Pictures curtesy of photobucket***

This post has been inspired by the book "As a man thinketh"