It’s summer and my garden is really taking off. There’s some tried-and-true things growing out there and some wildly experimental things. I find that once again I planted everything too close but I’m loving the first few snacks of the year.
Tucked into almost every garden bed is a sweet basil plant. I’m trying to confuse the bugs and grow as much as I can in the little spaces because basil is my favorite part of my summer garden. Here’s why.
Once every week or two I head out to the garden and grab all the new basil growth and throw it in a big bowl. I wash it and soak it in salt water to kill any hitchhiking bugs. After another rinse it goes straight into the food processer. I cram in as much as possible, soft stems and all, along with garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and oil.
I turn that machine on and a few seconds later I have what I have so cunningly named “basil sauce.” It goes in a jar in the fridge and waits, although it doesn’t wait long. It goes with everything summer. Cucumbers and tomatoes, rice, quinoa, potatoes, chicken and seafood. Mix it with some mayo and its good on sandwiches, chicken salad, and in dip.
When the summer ends so does the steady supply of basil sauce. You might be thinking, but it’s 2026! You can have basil whenever you like, Whitney. I know, but it’s not the same. I want it fresh from the garden.
It makes me think of reading the Bible. Feasting on the Word of God. If a day goes by without a fresh meal things feel a little different. My patience is shorter, my ability to hear God is fuzzier, and I’m just a bit hungrier.
The days I read are better. I feel closer to Jesus, which makes sense! He is the Word made flesh. I have practiced hearing God by reading what He wrote so I hear better that day. Throughout the day the Holy Spirit seems to remind me more often of the Bible and I can feel life in my body.
The first day I miss isn’t so bad, but by the second, third, and fourth I really feel the difference. My spirit is getting very hungry. Just think if I missed a month, or two! We make sure our bellies are full but seem to forget that “man won’t live on bread alone.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4
Dried basil is delicious and great in its own way but it’s lacking that freshness. It preserves well but it’s not for basil sauce. The scripture I read a few months ago is still potent and does its good work, but it has a purpose that is not to be replaced by a fresh reading.
They sell basil plants at the grocery store and fresh cut herbs in little plastic containers and squeeze bottles, but it’s not as good. There are jars of pesto in every grocery store, but I don’t want the extras they add in. I’ll eat it, but it’s just not the same.
There’s just something about the stuff that grows in my garden with the real sun, and the fresh rain that makes that sauce so good. I don’t want basil plus preservatives, or basil that’s just slowly dying under the grocery store lights.
I don’t just want scripture that I got from a devotional, sermons, and podcasts, even though that’s good stuff too! I may get scripture from all of these places throughout the year but no matter how much I have already had I still want the fresh Word of God coming off the pages of my Bible or my Bible app or read to me. I want to see it, hear it, read it, sing it, say it, and memorize it. I want to write it on my heart and fill my spiritual belly up with the nutritious goodness of what God has given me.
I hope this analogy is working for you. I hope that God blesses you as you read this. But more than that, I hope you go read the sweet, fresh, powerful, medicinal, filling Word of God when you finish.
I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. – Psalm 81:10
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