Monday, May 14, 2012

Upside Down Tomatoes

I attempted to grow an upside down tomato plant. I had seen a news report about a way to grow tomato plants in a plastic bucket with a hole cut in the bottom. So far, it doesn't appear to be working very well. The tomato plants we planted normally are flourishing. The plant I put in the bucket is about to die. As best I can tell, the bucket is not draining properly, literally drowning the tomato vine before it has a chance to grow. It reminds me of what sometimes happens to us as believers. We come to church and soak up all the scripture and worship, but we don't absorb it, and we don't let it spread to our neighborhoods and communities. Pretty soon, we wind up looking like my tomato plant, withered with nary a tomato in sight. We have it upside down. Church isn't designed to serve us. We, as the church, are designed to serve, to bear fruit. Jesus put it this way:

John 15:5 (NIV) I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.