Romancing The Rock

My hubby likes to grow vegetables. He worked in market gardens for many years, and so knows a thing or two about this kind of thing. Not that we’re always successful. Sometimes the bugs get in and eat the seedlings before they have a chance and although we could smother them with insecticide, we try to keep our growing as chemical free as possible.

When things go well, however, we have had a few bumper crops. Last year we had no end of tomatoes, we enjoyed juicy cobs of corn, and a few other bits and pieces. This year we have had a wonderful supply of zucchini through the summer, bushes full of fresh basil leaves, and now we have approximately thirty butternut pumpkins lying around our back yard. I am looking forward to lots of hearty pumpkin soup this winter. Oh, and I can roast them and make a risotto — perhaps I will even try that American dessert, pumpkin pie.

But, I am reminded that just as we will tear down any plant that isn’t growing properly or bearing any fruit, the Lord also looks on us to bear fruit in our lives. If we continue to show no fruitfulness, we are in danger of having our branches pruned (discipline). We must make sure our roots are secure in Him, and that we are being watered and fed by His word. Like the veggie plant, without fruit, we will only end up on the compost heap, or in the fire. Something to think about…

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’” [Luke 13:5-7 NIV]