I have recently been working in my garden. It took a big hit this winter and needs a lot of care. My goal is to replace several plants that did not make it with ones that will flourish. I have been back and forth to various nurseries, trying to do my homework so I find just the right replacements. Each plant comes tagged with a culture sheet giving the optimal conditions that need to be met for the plant to thrive. This includes things like the proper soil and nutrients, the amount of moisture and daily sun exposure plus the size of the mature plant. I need to pay attention to these requirements. If all of these conditions are met the plants will thrive in my garden. My garden will be happy.

In a sense, the Bible gives each of us our culture sheet that tells the conditions of our hearts that need to be met so that we can thrive, so that we will be happy. One problem is, left to our own devices, we cannot figure this out. We are like Eve in the Garden of Eden. Eve thought she knew what would make her happy. She thought God was withholding something from her. She didn’t trust Him. She wanted to run her own life, she thought she knew better than God about how to make herself happy.

But God knows. He made each one of us. He loves us and wants the best for us. He appreciates the desires and ambitions of our hearts. He knitted us together in our mother’s womb. He counts the number of hairs upon our heads. He understands our dispositions and circumstances. He is aware of the trials we endure. And He knows what will make us truly happy.

Psalm 1 opens with this exclamation, “Happy, happy, happy is the one!….” In this psalm the Holy Spirit describes how to be happy. It introduces our culture sheet. God sets forth the conditions of our heart that need to be met in order for us to thrive, to bloom wherever we are planted. He gives us the key to happiness. Remember God is not mean. He is not withholding something good from us. He is simply telling us how it is, setting forth the parameters for our happiness.

One of the primary concerns of a gardener is the condition of their soil. The soil of our heart needs to be prepared with care. Often it needs to be amended, nutrients need to be added. Some things must be avoided. In Psalm 1 God warns us about attitudes and pressures we need to avoid. He warns us to steer clear of seeking counsel from people who don’t walk in the wisdom of the Lord. He wants us to be careful not to hang out with scoffers who mock God. God knows that peer pressure is a strong influence for good or for evil.

He also gives us the perfect fertilizer for our hearts, the living word of God. He invites us to delight in it and meditate on it day and night. He wants us to immerse ourselves in it, drink deeply from it. This is not meant to be a “grit your teeth” experience. The time we spend saturated in the word of God is meant to be a joy, we delight in it.

We have some choices to make about the condition of our hearts. Do you want to thrive and flourish? Or do you want to “be like chaff that the wind drives away”? Trust God, follow the parameters of His culture sheet. And you, “will be like a tree firmly planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In whatever he does, he prospers.” Psalm 1:3

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you that you want the best for us. Help us to trust you and to follow your ways. Give us friends who encourage and build us up. Help us to be that kind of friend to others. Bless our time in your word so that we delight in it. Thank you that as we follow your culture sheet we will be fruitful, prosper and be happy!
In Jesus’ name,
Amen