Complete Certainty

Following my texting conversation with our oldest daughter yesterday, I went out to closely examine my own two tomato plants.  As I looked in detail, I discovered, to my glee, our first little tomato!   It was only about a half of an inch in diameter but was lovely in my sight!  There is always something special about the first fruit of the year’s harvest.

For some reason I thought about that first little fruit hidden behind the leaves of our Bush Early Girl tomato plant as I meditated on 1 Thessalonians 1:5 this morning during my study time.  This verse reads: “We know this because the Good News we brought came to you not only with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with complete certainty.” (God’s Word ©)  When I began to dissect the verse word by word, I suddenly recalled an incident from long ago that brought everything into perspective…

Back in the early 1990’s we had been living in our first purchased home for about six or so years.  Money had been a little tight and as we were able to landscape and complete the front yard, the same could not be said for the large back yard.  At that point we had fenced the yard, laid a patio, build a patio covered, planted numerous fruit trees and worked diligently at cultivating a large garden area.  The rest of the yard was a rough and ready playground for our kids and their friends!  (Now that I think about it, we also had a nice play structure as well)

Previous to moving into this house, we had rented my Grandmother’s small home and over the years had developed a fantastic vegetable garden area.  But, no matter how hard I tried though, the garden in the new house always struggled to produce an adequate harvest.  But one Spring in the early 90’s finally looked promising.  The various plants and especially the tomatoes were looking healthy and strong.  As a father watches the development of a newborn child, I observed with expectancy the daily growth and production as the little green balls began to form under the tiny yellow flowers.  Then when that first tomato began to turn red, I was beside myself.  Then it happened…  One morning our youngest child came bounding into the kitchen with a plump greenish-red tomato in her tiny little hand and exclaimed excitedly as she presented her prize saying, “Look at the ‘May-toes’ Daddy!”

Well, you guessed it!  It was that special-to-me first tomato of the hard fought harvest.  It had to have been a funny sight because inside of me all kinds of bells and whistles were going off, but on the outside I had to break into a large smile as I was completely taken in by my daughter’s “complete certainty” that I would share in her joyful discovery.  The disappointment and potential anger at having the long awaited fruit picked prematurely instantly disappeared when I encountered my daughter’s happiness!

As I remembered all that today, I thought about how that should be similar to our faith as we share it with others in this world.  Our testimony should come forth not only with words, but also with power, the Holy Spirit and with “complete certainty” of our conviction in Christ.  In fact, as with the example of my young daughter many years ago, our actions will most likely overshadow any words that we might speak!

As I consider my own current testimony through my words and actions in the midst of all that’s happening in my life at this time, I pray that I come across the same as JoAnna did back then, and that my “complete certainty” in the miraculous healing power of our God builds a certainty of faith in those I come in contact with.  How about you? I would encourage you to think about your words and actions this weekend.  Do you project an atmosphere of “complete certainty” in the Good News you believe in?  Do your actions carry the power similar to my daughter’s as she bounded in that room declaring “Look at the ‘May-toes’ Daddy”?  Have a great weekend.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What Good News am I expecting To Share today?”