40 Days to Discovering God’s Big Idea for Your Life

NO GOOD TREE BEARS BAD FRUIT, NOR DOES A BAD TREE BEAR GOOD FRUIT. EACH TREE IS RECOGNIZED BY ITS OWN FRUIT. PEOPLE DO NOT PICK FIGS FROM THORNBUSHES, OR GRAPES FROM BRIERS. THE GOOD MAN BRINGS GOOD THINGS OUT OF THE GOOD STORED UP IN HIS HEART, AND THE EVIL MAN BRINGS EVIL THINGS OUT OF THE EVIL STORED UP IN HIS HEART. FOR OUT OF THE OVERFLOW OF HIS HEART HIS MOUTH SPEAKS. WHY DO YOU CALL ME, “LORD, LORD,” AND DO NOT DO WHAT I SAY? (LUKE 6:43-46)

Successful gardens may have many caretakers, but only one master gardener, one person whose vision oversees the overall design. More than one guiding plan leads to confusion, inefficiency, inconsistent results, and stunted fruitfulness. This is precisely the dilemma many believers face. On the one hand, they claim to follow the King and to live according to His government, while on the other they continue to listen to the desires of the pretender and fail or refuse to uproot the “weeds” of evil, rebellion, and destruction he has sown in their hearts. And then they wonder why their garden is choked off and produces little fruit.

1. If believers listen to the desires of the pretender and fail or refuse to uproot the “weeds” of evil, rebellion, and destruction he has sown in their hearts, what is the inevitable result?

2. Gardens are known by the consistency, quality, and abundance of the fruit they produce, and these are direct reflections of the skill and character of the gardener. If the garden is nonproducing, is this a reflection of the gardener as well?

3. The quality of the fruit depends on the nature of the root. In other words, the fruit we bear in our lives reveals who is tending our garden—the Master Gardener or the pretender. Who is tending your garden?

4. Because the natural reflects the supernatural, the human race has mistreated the planet and misused its resources, which is a representation of the spiritual devastation wrought by the pretender’s depraved rule. List a few examples of this mistreatment or misuse.

5. Every day we make choices that determine which fruit will manifest in our lives—either the bad fruit of the pretender or the good fruit of the Master Gardener. How easy is it for you to make the hard choices that produce the good fruit?

The Bible is the record of God’s plan to reclaim the earthly dominion and restore it to His original design and intent. As we have already seen, God’s big idea from the beginning was to extend His heavenly Kingdom to Earth, and He chose to do it through His very own children. This was not a religious act but an act of state. Adam and Eve had no religion in the Garden of Eden. What they did have was continuing fellowship with their Creator as they ruled the created order as His vice regents. In bringing Heaven to Earth, the King was simply enacting His own governmental policy. His purpose was to fill the Earth with His glory. He wanted to bring His own nature to the Earth, and that nature was reflected in the lush beauty, abundant fruitfulness, and absolute perfection of the Garden.