In the Garden and In the Building

In Genesis 2, after God created man, He put him in a garden. The name of the garden was “Eden,” which means “delight” or “pleasure.” Furthermore, in the center of the garden was a tree, good for food, called the tree of life. Also in the garden was a river flowing forth, having gold, bdellium, and onyx stone in it.

My experience with Christian Students here at UCLA has simply been one of enjoying Christ in “the garden.” While growing up in a Christian family, I was saved, baptized, and began my walk with the Lord. But with Christian Students, I found that life in Christ is not one of mere duty, but one of joy, delight, and pleasure! How could I live the Christian life? Only with the joy of the Lord as my strength (Neh. 8:10). When I touched the Lord Jesus as my joy, things that would normally bother me didn’t really matter. I could pray over His word, sing and declare songs to Him, thus “eating” the tree of life. I could call out to Him, speaking His name aloud, thus “drinking” of the river. As I ate and drank, I was in the garden, satisfied and happy.

In 1 Corinthians 3, the believers are likened to plants, with God causing them to grow. These many plants constitute the garden, or “cultivated land” (verse 9). However, we are not only part of God’s farm or cultivated land, but part of His building. This means that we are not just individual plants, but precious materials to be built together into God’s house. With Christian Students, I also experienced being built together with fellow believers. Yes, life in college did have valleys and hills. But by being built with some others through prayer and companionship, I was kept by His mercy loving Him and enjoying Him. The protection and encouragement was found in the building.

I thank the Lord for leading me to, and keeping me with, Christian Students during my years here at UCLA. It is here that I began to realize how enjoying the Lord in my daily life would keep me growing in the garden and being built together with others would satisfy God’s desire for a built-up house.

– S.Y.