Apples! Grapes! Zucchini! Squash! The harvest season brings forth its fruit, boasting of God’s abundance. Bushels and barrels full of produce are everywhere, making us smile with grateful hearts.
In Scripture, there are many images of the harvest, indicating how central the theme is to human life. God encourages us to be “wheat among weeds” (cf. Mt 13:24-30), “good soil” to produce a good crop (cf. Lk 8:4-21), “good grapes” rather than wild grapes (cf. Is 5:2).
We all know what it is to enjoy good food, and how unpleasant it is to eat sour, rotten or unripe food. God uses analogies that will resonate well with us, so that we may understand how much delight he takes in our own sweetness of virtue. And what’s more—he is the master gardener, who knows precisely what is needed to bring about a good yield. Let us trust in his ways, then, knowing that we will become “like trees planted beside running water which give forth fruit in due season” (Ps 1:3)!
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