“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.”

~Phil 4:8-9~

We took up gardening this year.  It has been fun, but we discovered that a few black birds like tomatoes.  The dark creatures invaded our wonderful tomato patch.  Several ready to pick, juicy ripe tomatoes were damaged--- with big holes carved out by the birds.  We were faced with several choices:  Cut out the bad parts and eat them anyway or toss them.   

It reminded me of the time I bit into a rotten apple.   I had two choices, chew it up and swallow with laughter or spit it out in disgust.  That day was a bad day already, rotten, and the dreadful apple was symbolic.   Ever have those days?

That bad apple day I decided to swallow the bite I had taken, without further chewing.   I found a few other good spots to bite into, and  threw the rest away.   I’m thankful today that God’s grace is sufficient, enabling me to chew and swallow what comes my way as part of His sovereign plan.   I’m also thankful that I can  throw away the invaders of my mind which seek to deliver rotten apples.  We can swallow what comes by God’s plan, chew on the good, and toss the rest.

I’m not sure if a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable.  It has seeds, so it must be a fruit.  Or maybe it’s a fruitgable.   Either way, I pray that our fruit will remain ripe and free from evil birds, worms,  or whatever might try to invade the garden.     I pray for God’s enablement to think about the good, the true, the pure, the praiseworthy things ----and discard the rest.