Planting a Tomato Garden

 

I'm going to start off our time today with an obvious statement, the purpose of planting a tomato garden is to produce life giving fruit for the sustenance of those that benefit from it. I told you, pretty basic stuff, right? Well, what if I told you that a tomato garden isn't necessarily for the person planting it, but more for those that the planter can share with over self. I've been around farming and gardening throughout my childhood and to a certain extent on into adulthood, and after all these years, it has become clear to me that those who plant a garden aren't necessarily thinking about themselves, but more importantly the people that they can share their garden with, thus providing them with life giving fruit so they in turn can return the selfless generosity to someone else down the line. Tomato gardens are all about growing tomatoes, what grows out of your life's garden is up to you.

 

If you haven't ever been involved in growing a tomato garden, let me assure you that the investment equals a great deal of labor, sweat, and time. Tomatoes grow on the vine, but the work that goes into assuring those plump, juicy red treasures starts way back in the early spring. Over the course of the next several months attention must be given to weeding, watering, staking out, and delicately suckering off sprouts from the plant that serve only to lessen the flow of nutrients to the main vine and ripening fruit. At any given time, the tender plants become suspect to an invasion of pests that want to feed off the hard work of the gardener. Applying some type of pesticide assures the plant is not harmed, and also protects the fruit before it ripens. But the story doesn't end there. When the tomatoes ripen on the vine there still has to be a harvest before anyone gets to enjoy the fruit off the vine. Picking tomatoes happens in some of the hottest weather and as you can guess there is no hiding from the sun since we want our garden to grow and sunshine is definitely not something that we want to hinder. 

 

After all the work is done, and the harvest is complete, you would think it is time for the gardener to sit back and enjoy the true fruits of their labor, but that is not necessarily the case. The grower knows that the fruit will quickly over ripen and rot if it isn't used soon after it is harvested. So, what does the farmer do? The very thing that we should do, share. To take something that involved so much labor and effort and give it away, would seem off track for some, but for the gardener that is almost as rewarding as sitting down to lunch with a homegrown tomato and bologna sandwich slathered with mayo! 

 

The point of today's lesson relates to the analogy Jesus shared in Matthew 9:37-38 where He said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” You may never plant a tomato patch or any other type of garden for that matter, but the seeds you are planting in the life you are living is a garden in itself. You map out a plan for your garden in your mind each day, and then you go about planting the seeds and nurturing the transition of a seed to a plant, eventually providing a fruit bearing, life giving product of your labor. Are the seeds you are planting going to produce fruit that inspires a life of giving and serving? What we plant and grow is a choice, and unfortunately some of us choose to sow to the flesh in whatever way that looks in your own life. Sowing seeds of greed, anger, resentment, or fear also can be nurtured intentionally or unintentionally, so it behooves us to spend the same time weeding, watering, and nurturing our gardens daily to assure we are developing the fruit that God wants us to harvest. 

 

You choose what grows in your garden, choose life giving fruit that will prosper and support those you live with, work with, and share life with each day. God's garden is bountiful and we are called to tend His garden here on earth!

Coach Carter