Tag Archives: Herb

Chapter-a-Day

I Choose

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The next day Moses entered the tent and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.
Numbers 17:8 (NIV)

This past week, I have been enjoying the fruit of our little herb garden here at Vander Well Manor. I’m happy to report that I have not only managed to keep our little garden growing, but it’s even yielded some abundance! I’ve had lots of Jalapeno peppers which I’ve been dicing and adding my queso. I also used parsley and basil in making a homemade almond salsa verde which we’ve used on both grilled chicken and grilled salmon. It was really good.

When God began talking to the Hebrews about His dwelling among them, He boiled things down into very simple terms: life and death:

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NIV)

Along my spiritual journey, I’ve come to realize that this is a great way to summarize the entire Great Story.

God is a wellspring of life.
Creation
Order
Fruitfulness
Abundance
Resurrection
Contentment

Evil rejoices in death.
Destruction
Chaos
Infertility
Scarcity
Decay
Discontent

When reading the ancient texts, I’ve learned that it’s important to pay attention to how things are ordered (God loves order).

In yesterday’s chapter, a massive rebellion breaks out against Moses and Aaron. It begins with a man named Korah and 250 leaders who attempted a leadership coup. By the time all was said and done “the whole Israelite community” had joined in the discontented grumbling. The consequences of standing up and rebelling against what God had ordained was swift judgement and death for the 250 instigators.

In today’s short chapter, God instructs Moses to have the head of each tribe bring a wooden staff to God’s traveling tent Temple with their name engraved on it. Aaron brought the staff for the tribe of Levi. Moses placed all twelve inside the tent overnight. By morning, nothing had changed about eleven of the wooden staves. Aaron’s however, had not only budded, but it had blossomed and produced almonds.

What in the world?!

A few thoughts about God giving the Hebrews this metaphor:

First, dead wooden staves do not sprout, let alone do they produce fruit. The miracle of Aaron’s rod not only provides the Hebrews with an undeniable sign of God’s choice of Aaron and his son as priests, but His miracle reminds them that it is God’s choice. Aaron’s staff was no different than any of theirs. God’s choice was not based on Aaron’s merit, but on God’s gracious choice intended to bring life and blessing through Aaron to everyone in the community.

Second, the miracle stands in contrast to Korah’s rebellion in which discontent led to conflict, chaos, and death. Quietly, God’s swift miracle restores order and brings fruitfulness. Jewish scholars have long observed that almonds are among the earliest to blossom. God’s metaphorically reminding the Hebrews of a truth that God’s chosen King, David, would so poetically and lyrically phrase:

For his anger lasts only a moment,
    but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
    but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:5 (NIV)

Finally, God’s miracle reminds the Hebrews of what He’s been telling them from the beginning. He is the God of Creation, who is all about life and abundance. Before the miracle, God told Moses that the staff He chose would “bud.” Aaron’s staff did far more than that. As Jesus, God’s Son would later tell us, “I came that you might have life in abundance!”

So in the quiet this morning, I’m simply reminded that I choose.

With my choices each day I am choosing one or the other. I can make choices out of discontent, envy, anger, and pride that lead towards perpetual disorder, conflict, and chaos in life. Or, I can make choices out of faith in and obedience to the way of Jesus in which love for God and love for others leads to contentment, order, gratitude that is fruitful and life-giving for myself and everyone around me (like an herb garden!).

What does my life say about the nature of my choices?
What do my choices say about the condition of my heart?

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Promotional graphic for Tom Vander Well's Wayfarer blog and podcast, featuring icons of various podcast platforms with a photo of Tom Vander Well.
These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
A collection of wooden staffs, representing the tribes of Israel, displayed in a tent setting.
Chapter-a-Day

Soil and Spirit, Weather and Weeds

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Soil and Spirit, Weather and Weeds (CaD Matt 13) – Wayfarer

Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Matthew 13:8 (NIV)

Happy Easter! It is spring and here in Iowa the landscape is quickly changing from the dull neutral tones of gray, beige, and deep brown that dominate the death of winter into vibrant and lush green of new life and a rainbow of blossoms that it brings. Here in Pella, the tulip beds are in full bloom and our annual Tulip Time festival is just ten days away.

In today’s chapter, Jesus famously teaches the crowds in parables, and the subject of His parables are all about soil, seeds, and weeds. This got me thinking a bit about the spiritual parable of my own experiences this season…

I’ve already mowed my lawn a couple of times. It was 10 years ago that Wendy and I moved into our newly constructed house. The company we hired to do our lawn was one of the more difficult contractors we worked with in the process. The soil on our property wasn’t the greatest and we had loads of black dirt brought in to supplement it. Even so, the yard was not grated well, and the soil was not spread well. The result has been a decade of trouble and hard work. Every spring as I break out the lawn mower and begin working the lawn I confess feeling a bit embittered regarding how much better and easier it would be if the soil had been done well, and done right, from the beginning.

Meanwhile, inside the house I’ve been experimenting with one of those countertop herb gardens advertised online. I have confessed many times in these posts/podcasts to my brown thumbs and lack of ability to successfully garden, even while living my entire life on the richest, most productive farmland on the face of the earth. I’m happy to say that my tiny little herb garden has been highly productive despite the multiple mistakes I’ve made getting started. I’ve been supplementing my dinner salads with Romain lettuce from countertop. Our supply of fresh Basil is slowly growing, and I’ve got plenty of fresh mint growing to mix some Mojitos to enjoy on the back patio this summer.

One of the things I’ve noticed about my little countertop herb garden has been both the soil, which I’ve never seen anything like it in my life, and the watering system which is genius in allowing the soil to soak up what the plants need without drowning them and takes my human incompetence and lack of disciplined attention out of the equation.

Which has me thinking about Jesus’ parable in the quiet this morning. The difference between the 25% of seeds that became productive and fruitful plants in Jesus’ parable and the 75% of seeds who didn’t make it was the quality of the soil. Which has me thinking about my contrasting experiences with my lawn and my countertop herb garden. The profoundly simple question Jesus’ parable, and my experience, leads to is: “What is the quality of the spiritual soil of my heart, mind, and life?”

As I meditated on Jesus’ parable, I realized that there are both things that I control and things that are out of my control with regard to the spiritual cultivation of my heart and mind. I don’t completely control the weather of life, the circumstances around me, or even the weeds that might have been sown to my right or left and are flourishing to my perpetual aggravation. I do, however, control the inflows of what I draw into my eyes, my ears, my heart, my mind, and my body. I control my time and my energy expenditure. I can push my spiritual roots deeper where springs of Living Water can nourish me, or I can simply choose to soak up the shallow and toxic run-off this world ceaselessly sheds from its surface.

The words of the Serenity Prayer came to me as I pushed my roots deeper this morning:

Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Or, in other words:

Lord, help me to be the best spiritual soil I can be for Your Word to take root that my life might be as fruitful and productive as possible today. Grant me patience, grace, and peace amidst the weeds and weather of this world that I do not control. And give me wisdom to know the difference.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!