As I make my morning drive, opting for the country back road, I admire the sunrise every time and can’t help but notice all the gardens. Backyard gardens full of veggies and wild vines, rows of corn stretching for miles along the rolling hills, and my favorite, the sunflower garden, full of sunflowers leaning intently toward the morning sun. Different gardens, yet all beautiful and full of purpose. Life started in a garden, and Jesus invites us to dwell in the garden with Him. Despite the outcomes Adam and Eve encountered in the garden, we can choose to stay in the gift of God’s garden. Because in the gardens of our lives, we can discover many gems.

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed.

Genesis 2:8

God planted a garden, and He saw it as good. He sees us as good, too.

I can fall into the lies just like Eve, but I also know Jesus can redeem me just like Eve. Lies that say I’m not wise enough. Lies that try to convince me that I didn’t hear the Holy Spirit clearly. Lies that I’m just not good enough.

The lies try to tell us that we are not good, but the truth is God says we are good. And what is incredible is that God invites us to a glorious garden every day and sprinkles our days with gems. Gems of love. Gems of hope. Gems of beauty.

Every day, we can find gems in the garden. I imagine the garden as those sacred moments in the presence of God. It’s the garden of my heart, a place deep within my heart where I can dwell with Jesus. We can encounter the garden every minute of the day, in the ordinary and extraordinary, in the highs and the lows. It’s the most secret, sacred place.

When we meet Jesus in the sacred place of our hearts, dwelling in the garden, the Spirit dwells there, too. There are gems to be discovered. Gems in Scripture. Gems in friendships. Gems in encounters with Jesus.

It all started in the garden, and it ended in the garden.

When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, into which He Himself entered, and His disciples.

John 18:1

Close to Jesus’ death, He enters a garden. Despite the betrayal and the ugly about to take place, I’m captivated by the fact that Jesus comes to the garden, the place where often He met. My heart finds it enlightening that Jesus and His disciples enter a beautiful place, a garden. It all started with a garden. God created the most glorious garden and Jesus sacrificed His life to bring beautiful life to you and I.

Today, remember these beautiful truths:

God created you beautifully and said you are good.

There are gems within the spiritual garden of your heart that Jesus invites you to discover.

Embrace every gem in the garden today.