My neighbors are all telling me I’m nuts because I planted a garden. Their contention is that I can buy what I need at one of the many farmer’s markets located in my area and I won’t have to work in the garden and can buy what I need for a fraction of the cost. I tell them they are right especially after you consider that I had to put up a deer-proof fence 8′ high and buy a rototiller, get a few loads of dirt, and of course buy fertilizer, plants, and irrigation. That is quite the sum of money I spent for my produce.
With that said, I believe God instilled in me the urge to plant seeds, nurture them, and harvest the crops. I’m not alone in this as I see many gardens as I travel around. I had to scale my garden back due to my impending surgery and limited it mainly to tomato plants, squash, cucumbers, peppers, and cantaloupes. Next year Lord willing I will include string beans, peas, okra, watermelons, and sweet corn. I don’t mind the work and in fact, rather enjoy it.
My tomatoes are just now beginning to yield juicy ripe tomatoes. These do not taste like store-bought ones that are picked green, rather mine are picked ripe and are tasty enough to warrant a tomato sandwich with salt, pepper, and a little mayonnaise and nothing else for lunch. It has been fun watching them grow and is quite miraculous when I think about it. These plants emanate from tiny seeds and grow to waist-high in a matter of a few days. God is amazing!
I believe that the Lord loves to watch things grow as well. It was He who initially told us to farm and most of the people in Jesus’ day were of an agrarian nature. I like that lifestyle and think there are few things in life more relaxing than sitting in my rocker on the porch listening to birds and maybe a distant cow lowing after a hard day’s work on the farm. No sirens, no traffic, no blaring music, just peace with God on a farm in the middle of nowhere in Mississippi.
Jesus loved fish and fishermen as well. My friends ridicule me about my obsession with going fishing, telling me I could buy fish cheaper than catching them myself. With the cost of my boats, fishing tackle, fuel, and maintenance the naysayers were right again, but we eat “fresh” fish two to three nights per week. My farm pond is loaded with bass, blue gill, and catfish and the joy of walking in my backyard and catching them and then watching my wife prepare them for supper is tough to beat.
Okay, I have lived in the rat race and traveled the world. I have had the stressful jobs founding and running big companies and spent half my lifetime snarled up in traffic to get to my next meeting and even though the material rewards were nice, they cannot be compared to my current lifestyle. I know the peace of God and I feel His presence and I know He wants only the best for us. I believe He is delighted in watching me grow and flourish and I’m far more important to Him than any $4000 tomato and so are you. Slow down some today and realize that as you get older (which most of my readers are) that God is not done with you and works every day to mold you into what He wants you to be. Start with love of God, family, and country. And most important don’t forget to assist with the harvest of the vast fields of lost human souls.
John 4:35
Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months until the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe for harvest. Already the reaper draws his wages and gathers a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together . . .