My tomato plants were done, but I just couldn’t bear the idea of leaving all the green ones still on the vine. What a waste. So I brought them in, and decided to see what would happen if I gave them some time inside our warm house.
A few weeks had gone by.
Was it pointless, I wondered?
Time for the trash?
I tried to eat a few, still green,
but they were not delicious.
I decided to wait just a little longer
before throwing them out.
This morning I came down and found them like this!
Three big red ones! And several red littles!
There were some rotten ones, too,
that ended up going from green to goo
and never hitting that ripe spot in the middle.
And those had to be thrown away.
But it wasn’t without a chance, at least.
I took the time to pick them from the vine
and bring them in.
Give them their best shot!
And God said to me-
It’s like people, you know.
They’re far too valuable for me not to harvest.
The ripe ones, they’re oh so pleasing to me,
picked red and delicious from the vine,
sweetened by the sun and the rain,
and ready to serve.
But the ones that stay “hard” a little longer?
The ones that are green,
and appear as if they’ll never ripen…
Do you think I just throw them out, flippantly, wastefully, carelessly?
I wouldn’t think of it.
I know what a treasure they are!
I bring them ALL in,
give them all some space and time to ripen,
to be saved,
to be ready to serve.
And some will!
Sometimes even when you think
their “season has past”,
I {God} know all they need is some warmth and some time and a whole lot of prayer.
And some, sadly, won’t.
Some will get the same warmth and time and prayer, and they won’t receive it.
Instead of ripening, they’ll rot.
But at least this way it won’t have been anyone else’s fault, because an effort was made to give them their best chance.
〰️〰️
God used my tomatoes to show me that he wants us to go BEYOND just harvesting what appears to ready- by sight…
and BELIEVING, by faith,
that some will still be made ready,
even when we think it’s out of season.
{Do I believe the end times are near? Yes I do.}
And as this season on Earth comes to an end,
as winter draws nearer and nearer…
He is trying to tell me,
Tell us,
Something.
Sometimes we can no longer just wait and see what ripens, and figure “Eh, the rest will be what they will be.”
In times like these we are called to bring them ALL in, as many as we can gather…
Knowing some may be close to ripening,
and others-
it may take God a little longer
to work on their hearts,
and others yet-
will not receive Him,
they’ll choose to stay hard,
until they turn to mush,
but they were still worth the effort to try!
We never know which will be which!
God’s ways are so much higher than ours!
Bring them in,
warm them up,
pray over them, persistently.
Give them some of your time.
Work with God, to give people their best chance! 🍅
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