RIPE

This is the time of year when zucchini grow to the size of footballs and tomatoes engage in population explosions. We don’t grow zucchini. (I got zucchini-ed out in childhood by my frugal mother’s zucchini creations.) However, my husband has a favorite sunny spot by the garage for his yearly “farm” of tomatoes. By September they shout “pick me, pick me!”  We try to share, but find ourselves gifted by other tomato-growers whose plants went into overdrive and don’t realize we have our own stash.

I’ve been reading John 15 in different translations in preparation for a speaking opportunity in October. It’s about grape vines, of course, but in some ways the truths fit tomatoes, especially if we were real savvy tomato-vine-keepers. These three words seem to summarize the passage:

PRUNED: Our heavenly Father is the vine dresser.  He knows what to snip off so that more nourishment goes into the fruit-producing branches. If there’s a sucker vine, off it goes.  Have to admit grapes and tomatoes differ here. Tomatoes need “cages” or supports. Lesson: life’s unpleasant experiences can leave us better or bitter. “Better” if we see them as God’s pruning wisdom. “Bitter” if we think God doesn’t have our best interests in mind when hard, “life-pruning” things happen.

NOURISHED:  The passage talks about “remaining” in the vine. Staying attached to the main vine is the only way the auxiliary vines can get the nourishment to grow grapes. When we go off and do our thing, goodbye healthy fruit. Without a “cage” to support its wimpy branches, the tomato would similarly have problems, flopping all over with the fruit in contact with the ground where they’d be most likely to decay (or feed the local mice and rats). When I “lift up” my Bible off the table by my rocker to read it, or “lift up” my prayer concerns to Him, I am nourished and encouraged.

FRUITFUL: Finally comes harvest, and off come the grapes.  And what’s their purpose? To nourish! To provide fruit that will last (v. 16).  Jesus said, “This is my command: Love each other” (v. 17). Let’s hear it for tomatoes in salads, as sauces, and as lumps of red goodness in kabobs or cooked dishes. Oh yes, tomato juice, if you want to recruit a blender. God is not limited by what He can accomplish through our personalities and abilities. He never intended for us to sit on a platter and be admired at length!

Maybe I’ve been a bit light-hearted about our bumper crop of tomatoes. I remember that when Jesus taught, He used simple object lessons. Many of His listeners were farmers or had a small garden for their family. You don’t leave a crop (or a garden) to itself. It needs care, or you’ll just have what Proverbs described of Mr. Sluggard’s farm: full of thorns and weeds, and its stone wall in ruins (Proverbs 24:30-34).

I wonder if Mr. Sluggard intended to grow tomatoes.  Or zucchini....