This week’s daily readings:

This week’s devotional:

God’s Everlasting Garden

by Sue Hersey

Scripture:

You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. As the Scriptures say,
“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
But the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.

— 1 Peter 1:22-25 (NLT)

Reflection:

The verses above remind me of fall. Despite the colorful beauty of the fall season, I always feel a little melancholy when summer finally comes to an end. The warm, abundant sunshine of the summer months provide the perfect environment for plants to thrive! For anyone who has done any gardening—whether we grow flowers or vegetables—we can experience the joy of watching our plants grow from practically nothing (a seed or seedling) to full maturity, through the blossoming stage and beyond to bearing either fruit or seed for some future season. As shorter days and cooler weather enter in, the plants we nurtured begin to wither and die back… it seems a sad end to a glorious season.

In the quote above from 1 Peter, people’s lives are being compared to vegetation that dies at the end of the season. It’s true that our current lives will not last. Nevertheless, since we as Christians have accepted the Good News of the Gospel, we have a new life that is meant to last forever! Verse 23 in the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible describes the word of God as seeds that cannot perish. In Matthew 24:35, Jesus himself declared that his words will never pass away. That has certainly been proven true through all the centuries since it was written, despite the efforts of many who have tried to make the Bible go away.

So, if “the word of the Lord remains forever” (as it states in verse 25, above), and it is a seed that has been planted in every believer, then we can expect that seed to grow within us and become fruit! What sort of fruit will grow from the word of God? I’m guessing that, if we circle back to the first verse above (verse 22), we will find that the fruit we grow is actually love for our brothers and sisters in Christ—and what a beautiful bounty that is! Even though God is setting this as a requirement for us (to show sincere love to each other), we don’t have to worry about fulfilling that obligation. Once again, God is equipping us with everything we need!

Prayer:

Dear Lord, thanks, first of all, for the beauty of this world, the miracle of growth, and the ever-changing seasons. Even more so, we thank and praise you with all our hearts for the wonders of eternal life! The miracle you made happen in Christ has now allowed us to spend eternity with you, and how amazing it is that you are making us more and more like Jesus. You’ve planted this enduring seed within us and blessed us with so much love that we have plenty to share with others. Lord, continue filling us with your word. Help that seed to grow and bear fruit in this lifetime as we serve one another with the love you provide. Let that love be never-ending, like the love of your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen

Week 17: April 26-May 2, 2026 - God’s Everlasting Garden

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