I found this as I was looking through some of my notes from a few years ago. But since it's still applicable, I thought I'd share it with you.
Ken Lee stepped into my kitchen one day and exclaimed, “It looks like your garden exploded in here!” I shot him a weary, half-hearted smile. Putting up the bounty from the garden is hard work! But now it’s winding down, although the weeds don’t look like they’re going to quit anytime soon! Yet, while the garden is slowing down, school is starting! There’s a flurry of excitement about the first day of school and what all we’re going to learn this year. Woven through my daily tasks of garden and school preparation is Feast preparation. There’s a lot to be done! The Feast of Trumpets is less than a month away! I am so overwhelmed by the myriad of things I need to do!
I can’t type that sentence without thinking of Matthew 13:22 - you know, the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches making the word unfruitful.
You know, a funny thing happened in my garden this year. My tomato plants set on so many tomatoes! I was carrying ripe tomatoes into the house by the 5-gallon bucketfuls! Then about four weeks ago, the vines just died. Oh, not all of them. We’re still eating tomatoes. But I’m no longer picking huge quantities every two days. They were very fruitful, but the plants didn’t stay the course. I’ll have very few green tomatoes when the first hard freeze comes.
It makes a good object lesson, doesn’t it? I may be productive now, but am I making sure I’m connected to the Vine so that I will have the sustenance to endure to the end? Yes, there is a myriad of things to do. There will always be a myriad of things to do. But while I’m doing them - including preparing for the Feast of Tabernacles - it would behoove me to consider one of the lessons of the Feast: “This world is not my home; I’m just a-passin’ through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue . . .” I can’t become so busy that I burn out, unable to stay the course. I can’t become so distracted by the cares of this world that I am unfruitful for the kingdom. I’ve got to keep it all in perspective - especially when my kitchen looks like the garden exploded in it.
Ken Lee stepped into my kitchen one day and exclaimed, “It looks like your garden exploded in here!” I shot him a weary, half-hearted smile. Putting up the bounty from the garden is hard work! But now it’s winding down, although the weeds don’t look like they’re going to quit anytime soon! Yet, while the garden is slowing down, school is starting! There’s a flurry of excitement about the first day of school and what all we’re going to learn this year. Woven through my daily tasks of garden and school preparation is Feast preparation. There’s a lot to be done! The Feast of Trumpets is less than a month away! I am so overwhelmed by the myriad of things I need to do!
I can’t type that sentence without thinking of Matthew 13:22 - you know, the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches making the word unfruitful.
You know, a funny thing happened in my garden this year. My tomato plants set on so many tomatoes! I was carrying ripe tomatoes into the house by the 5-gallon bucketfuls! Then about four weeks ago, the vines just died. Oh, not all of them. We’re still eating tomatoes. But I’m no longer picking huge quantities every two days. They were very fruitful, but the plants didn’t stay the course. I’ll have very few green tomatoes when the first hard freeze comes.
It makes a good object lesson, doesn’t it? I may be productive now, but am I making sure I’m connected to the Vine so that I will have the sustenance to endure to the end? Yes, there is a myriad of things to do. There will always be a myriad of things to do. But while I’m doing them - including preparing for the Feast of Tabernacles - it would behoove me to consider one of the lessons of the Feast: “This world is not my home; I’m just a-passin’ through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue . . .” I can’t become so busy that I burn out, unable to stay the course. I can’t become so distracted by the cares of this world that I am unfruitful for the kingdom. I’ve got to keep it all in perspective - especially when my kitchen looks like the garden exploded in it.
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