6S FARMS

This past month, we participated in corporate fasting and prayer to kick off the new year. My dedicated time to spend in prayer each day is on my commute. No passing snacks, no changing the song to whoever’s turn it is, no true crime podcast. Just me sitting at the feet of Jesus. With my eyes on the road, of course.

The thing that is near and dear to my heart is families. As I was fervently praying over my family, your family, and the families I haven’t yet met, I drove by a pecan orchard. Unfortunately, it was a bit worse for wear after enduring Hurricane Helene a few months back. There were uprooted trees and mangled branches.

But as I surveyed the entirety, it reminded me of the Garden of Eden. There were perfectly spaced, perfectly aligned pecan trees all in a row on the other side of this orchard. They were beautiful, with sturdy trunks and sprawling branches. You’d never be able to spot the area each of them had been grafted in order for it to produce fruit.

And I remembered God’s good design and His faithfulness. That He intended His people to thrive in community with each other the way these trees do – each in its own distinct spot with its own sunshine, but next to another equally strong tree. Each encourages the one beside it to grow via healthy competition.

His good design wasn’t for mangled branches and tangled familial lines. He’s not surprised by them though, and the Bible is full of messy families from start to finish.
But the most magnificent thing about pecan trees is the way they’re grafted. You take the upper part of one plant and join it with the lower part of another in order that each portion heals and grows as one. The result is a single tree that produces good fruit.

And that’s where the grace of God shines. He has grafted each of us into His family tree. He knew we have weak root systems and that we are prone to bend and break under pressure. So He sent us His Son to offer Himself in order to give us a new foundation. He cuts off all of the branches that aren’t producing;  all the ones covered in weeds and pests. And He places us right atop a new root system.

But this gives us roots that grow into the well that never runs dry. This new creation is a tree flourishes in the presence of others who have been grafted into the same family. This is life after the fall.

Nobody has a perfect family. But God has given us the gift of grafting us into His family. We become members of one body, each thriving where we are planted – so long as we remain rooted in Him.

What is your family of origin like? Could it use a little sprucing? Maybe you’re in need of pruning or perhaps just a little water. Whatever your current situation, there’s room for you in the garden. Spend some time today asking God to show you how you can be more fully cultivated in Him.

See ya around the farm,
Bailey

Luke 6:43-45 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

Romans 11:16-27 “If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.”

Job 14:7 “For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease.

Psalm 1:3 “That person is like a tree planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.”

Matthew 7:17 “So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.”

Genesis 2:9 “And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Colossians 2:7 “Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”