'Tater Nightmares

The garden behind my house is not looking so good these days. Hot summer days coupled with no rain have made me a convert to the theory of global warming during these past two weeks. Oh, I’m sorry - I meant to say ‘climate change’. Maybe I'll get myself a really good Power-Point presentation and win a Nobel Prize of my own? But I digress; I was talking about the garden.

My dad and I planted potatoes back in early spring. We went in together and he planted Irish potatoes while I planted Russets. We were concerned about the Russets, but they did just fine despite our sandy soil. It did not look very promising in the beginning, with his Irish plants quickly out-pacing the growth of my Russets. I found myself doubting at one point if they were going to grow at all. But they did, and though the final product would never make the grade for Wendy’s, all in all it was a decidedly gratifying outcome. We ate both types of potatoes, my family and both he and my mom, for several weeks.

But I recall having a bad dream during that time of waiting for the harvest. In my nightmare the time had arrived to 'gather' them and to my surprise I found carrots beneath some of the bushes! I hate carrots! On other plants that I dug up in my dream, I discovered only turnips hidden there! Turnips are gross! I awoke in a cold sweat, thankful that the surreal experience was only a dream.

You may think it silly, a dream as such. It looks that way to me, too, during the waking hours. If I plant potatoes, then potatoes are what I am going to harvest if I tend them and otherwise take care of the plants along the way. It’s the law of the harvest that has been in place since Noah left the ark and God made a promise about ‘seedtime and harvest’. We reap what we sow. It works in all phases of our lives as well.

If I plant discord and dishonesty in my heart, I will reap hatred and lies. If I plant truth and a love for others, then I am assured by God’s Word that I will harvest the same during my lifetime. “Reap what you sow” is one of the best-known phrases from the Bible, and one of the most important truths written within its pages. But there is also another part of the verse that we may be guilty of overlooking. Galatians 6:7 reads “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Yes, we are assuredly going to reap whatever we sow. But we need to remember the part about God not being mocked. If we think that is the case, then we are only deceiving ourselves in the process. God has specific rules and guidelines that we as Christians have been designated to follow, and we needn’t think that we can pick and choose which ones apply to us. We are to live FOR Him, every hour, every minute, and every day of our lives.

To live our lives in any other way is an invitation for trouble that will be sure to follow. The harvest may just not be what we thought it would be. Take it from a man who knows his potatoes!

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