Why are we having an
issue on sowing seed, gardening, and fruit-bearing in January, of all months,
and on the heels of a horticultural issue in 2001 about pruning branches and
the like?

    1. January is when
serious gardeners in northern climates begin receiving seed catalogs in the
mail.

    2. Our readers who live
in southern climates and south of the equator may already be gardening when
they receive this issue.

    3. Those of us who are
kept indoors by the snow and cold of winter may enjoy more quiet time during
this season to cultivate our spiritual lives as gardens of the Lord.

     4. In the March-April
2001 issue of Words of Truth the emphasis was on God’s chastening of
believers (corresponding to pruning branches of a vine or fruit tree) to help
increase our fruitfulness. In the present issue the focus is more on what we as
believers are and should be to the Lord as His garden, for His joy and
pleasure.                   The Editor