Corona Devo 3287
I've been thinking about tomatoes a lot lately. In our neck-of-the-woods, they are in season, and I wanted to preserve some for making spaghetti sauces and chili's down-the-line.
We grow tomatoes in our garden, and we've had a nice harvest, but not quite enough all-at-once for canning jar-fulls, and so I bought some tomatoes from a local stand.
The tomatoes were ripe, which is exactly the type you need for canning, but as I perused the abundant tomatoes at the stand, there were also asome that had been tainted by insects and disease, and those cannot be used for canning, because imperfections in fruit or vegetables will cause contamination and spoilage in the processing.
For making canned or "stewed" tomatoes, (as our family calls them), you need unblemished tomatoes, and a lot of them, and that's what I got. Many tomatoes were blanched, peeled, quartered, and then sprinkled with a little bit of sugar and some salt, and stewed-up to boiling before being ladled into twenty-one jars and processed in a canner pot.
Yes, I've been thinking about (healthy) tomatoes a lot lately, but you would not have known that.
However, on the morning that my mother-in-law and I were going to can tomatoes together, I started off by sipping some coffee with Scripture, and the Lord reminded me that He knew exactly what we were up to that day...right down to the necessary-tomato-details of them being guarded from insects and disease.
Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ~Malachi 3:11
How did God know that I had just selected and purchased from the farmstand, the ripest tomatoes that had been guarded from insects and disease?
He knew because He knows.
~~~
It's good for us to be reminded today that not only does God know about the big stuff, like the Creation of day and night, and how far the waves should go...
- Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (4) And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. (5) God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. [b]So the evening and the morning were the first day. ~Genesis 1:3-5
- Listen as Wisdom calls out!... (29) I was there when he set the limits of the seas, so they would not spread beyond their boundaries. And when he marked off the earth’s foundations... ~Proverbs 8:1, 29
Yes, the Lord knows about high-level, keeping-the-world-functioning things. He alone keeps gravity pulling and the waves crashing. God alone.
But, do we know what else God has on His mind?
Our Lord is in-tune with the mechanics of the universe because He created all of it.
And at the very same time, the Lord is in tune with you and me because He created and He loves us.
He knew that tomatoes have been on my mind and on my docket. He also knows what makes for good and tasty (and canning-friendly) tomatoes: ones that have been guarded from insects and disease, and He mentioned that to me in the Bible minutes before I began the task of canning my tomatoes that had been guarded from insects and disease.
God knows the big things, and He also knows the "we" things. He is a special God.
The verses leading-up to the abundant crops (guarded from insects and disease) verse-promise may also be pertinent to us today.
God knows because He knows.
Just as tomatoes cannot be canned if they are blemished...we need to reexamine our hearts before the Lord to be sure that we are coming to Him pure today. We can become desensitized-to the honor and worship that we should be bestowing on our Lord, and if we are short-changing God, then He knows, and we can get right before Him today.
Imperfections in us will cause contamination and spoilage in the processing and growth of our faith.
“I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. (7) Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“But you ask, ‘How can we return when we have never gone away?’
(8) “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me!
“But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’
“You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. (9) You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. (10) Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. ~Malachi 3:6-10
Yes, Father. You know what you're talking about--whether it is tomatoes, or if it is how we honor you with our time, our talents, and our hearts. All of these signify our tithe--the offering of ourselves to you.
But are we robbing You?
Have we a blemish? Have the bugs-of-self infested us? Are we giving-to-ourselves instead of giving to You, Lord?
Then, today we will honor You, Lord!
Forgive us, Father, for our unfaithfulness to Your purposes. Don't let us spoil today (or tomorrow) because of our inferiorities and imperfections. If we are not bringing our full self and tithe into Your storehouse, then make-it-so today, Lord. Change our hearts, and our focus, and our allegiance to You alone. And then...please bring the blessing. Amen.
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!
(11) Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. (12) “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ~Malachi 3: 10-12
You say "to-may-toe" and I say "to-mah-toe" but our Lord knows just what we are thinking and doing today.
Let's bring all of us into His storehouse today.
Blessings,
sarah
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