Seeds

Tomato Seeds

Gardeners are beginning to reap some of their hard work.  My little bunch of tomatoes are turning red (in spite of those horrid tomato worms) and will grace our table tonight.  We’ve eaten some of the sugar peas and have used a lot of the herbs from the garden.

There are garden examples across the Bible, from Eden where Adam and Eve dressed the garden before they understood they were undressed.

The 13th chapter of Matthew contains a beautiful example of the sower and seeds falling on a variety of ground. The disciples wondered why Jesus spoke in parables – why not just tell the people plainly? Sorry, but we have to pay attention.  We have to listen closely and reason within ourselves.

For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. (Matthew 13:15 KJV)

Paul used seeds as an example for understanding the resurrection:

And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: (1 Corinthians 15:37 KJV)

Only from previous experience could we believe that a tomato seed really could grow into a tall plant and give us tasty food. Looking at any seed takes imagination to see what it will do with the right soil, water, temperature and care.

So it is when we plant the seeds of curiosity in God’s word. We don’t know which suggested verse will take root and cause a reader to open their Bible and check to see if that verse means what it says. We don’t know what might grow from the seeds that we scatter across the web – and there are many seeds being scattered.

There are different gardeners, too, with a wide variety of responsibilities – some plant, some water, some reap. Paul was familiar with this process:

I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. (1 Corinthians 3:6 KJV)

In 1 Corinthians 15:37-50, Paul speaks of the difference between our resurrected bodies and those we now inhabit. The older we get, the more we look forward to those – even though we cannot imagine how they might appear. Just as the tomato seed does not hint to its appearance as a plant, so shall we be:

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:44 KJV)

This is why we sow the seeds of God’s word, that all might hear, understand and be able to say:

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:57-58 KJV)