FOOD FOR THOUGHT
(08/09/2009)
SWEET
TOMATOES
Cindy Hong
So
after the kids picked out their favorite seeds, we proceeded out the front
door of HCC to plant them. Michael was so impatient for chrysanthemums
that as soon as we hit the sidewalk on the side of the building, he started
throwing the seeds on the ground. The birds on the telephone lines couldn't
believe their luck and flew down for their free lunch. No chrysanthemum
tapioca tea for us. Jenny threw her watermelon seeds on the grass. Except
the grass turned out to be weeds and the seeds never stood a chance. There
went our watermelon smoothies. Emily thought she would outsmart the other
two and walked her pumpkin seeds across the street to the soccer fields
on West Belfort . But with the lack of rain in Houston and the trampling
of cleats across the grass, the pumpkins never made it to the pie phase.
Tommy decided he would take his precious tomato seeds to one of the neighborhoods
by church and see how they fared there. Walking a bit, he soon found himself
in a Bellaire neighborhood. Picking a house with lush grass, he figured
the owners watered their lawn. So flinging his tomato seeds over the fence,
he dreamed of homemade spaghetti sauce and lots of tomato egg stir-fry.
Sure enough with daily watering the first tomato popped up, then two,
three, four, and five. The tomatoes kept coming that the owners of the
house, who just happened to be HCC members, were bringing all the tomatoes
to church to give away. On Sundays people can spend $2 for a boxed lunch
and get free sacks of tomatoes to take home. Ah, such is the life in God's
kingdom, the King providing unlimited supply of tomatoes. Yet what kind
of tomato keeper am I? Am I squandering all these juicy tomatoes? Do I
view them with contempt and distain, ignoring their ripeness and succulence?
Then I would be just like the pumpkins, chrysanthemums, and watermelons,
all ending in naught. We are called to hear, accept, and bear fruit with
Jesus, keeping faithful company with Him. We cultivate the soil, spending
time with Him and keeping ourselves watered. He takes care of the harvest—average
yields are 10 times what was sown, but math with Jesus produces 30 or
60 or 100 times of that. We are invited to dine at Sweet Tomatoes all
day, every day. Are we taking Him up on His offer?
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