The Lord's Garden: A Devotional Set for Children

The Lord’s Garden is a series of devotional stories for children. The stories are based on true happenings, gleaned from a variety of sources, and rewritten for contemporary readers. Each story accompanies a passage of Scripture, and is intended to illustrate that particular biblical truth. Some stories are shorter, some longer. However, all will capture the attention of children, and hopefully their hearts. Every story begins with a Scripture verse and ends with questions for understanding the story, further points to think about, and directions for prayer.

Included in the Series:

Sowing the Seed

A garden will never grow unless someone takes the time to plant seeds. Likewise, God has planned things so that people will not be saved from their sins unless someone shares the good news of Jesus Christ with them. Just like a seed planted in good soil brings forth a beautiful garden, God uses the gospel message to produce Christians fit for bearing spiritual fruit. In Sowing the Seed, children will read stories about people sharing the gospel with others. These stories about missions and evangelism reinforce the importance of sharing the gospel and encourage children to see the joy of telling others about Jesus.

Taking Root

The picture of a plant taking root is used in the Bible to teach us the idea of conversion. When someone’s heart is turned from himself and his sinful ways to faith in Jesus and devotion to God, it is like a plant which starts to shoot out roots into rich soil so that it can live and take nourishment. There is no way for a plant to have life unless it takes root, and there is no way for a person to have spiritual life unless God turns him or her out of the way of death and into the way of life.

The stories in this book have to do with plants taking roots. But as you read through them, you will not run across tales of flowers, leaves, and dirt as much as you will about spiritual plants in the garden of the Lord. They are stories about how God gives people new spiritual life by rooting their hearts in the grace of His Son Jesus Christ. Read these stories and take the time to ask God about causing your heart to take deep root into the life-giving soil of Jesus.

Bearing Fruit

Just like trees and plants bear fruit, so must the Christian bear spiritual fruit. Some plants and trees are meant to have only branches or stems, and leaves, and no fruit. But there are others that produce fruit: apple trees, tomato plants, blueberry bushes, etc. Through the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s heart, Christians begin to produce the fruit of the Spirit. This means that a Christian shows by his lifestyle that he walks in the ways of the Lord. As you can tell an apple tree because of the tasty apples it carries on its branches, Christians should be recognized by their godly character. Children, read these stories and see the importance of bearing the fruit of godliness.