October 15, 2026

Counting Tomatoes

1 Corinthians 3:6 – “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.”

Every morning before work, the backyard gardener walked out with his coffee and bent over the tomato vines. He lifted the leaves carefully and counted the fruit hanging beneath them. He counted eleven on Monday and the same eleven on Wednesday. By Friday the number still had not changed, and his shoulders sagged as he headed back inside. He rarely counted the hours he had spent on his knees pulling weeds, the evenings he had stood with the hose soaking the roots, or the bags of compost he had worked into the soil in early spring. Those efforts left nothing to count on the vine, so they never seemed to matter.

Believers often measure faithfulness the same way. A Christian looks for answered prayers, changed habits, or visible growth and feels like a failure when the numbers stay flat. Churches fall into the same trap, judging their health by attendance, baptisms, and offerings. When the count slows down, discouragement settles in quickly.

Paul reminded the Corinthians that he had planted, Apollos had watered, and God alone made the seed grow. Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters controls the harvest. Paul also wrote that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. God measures His servants by their faithfulness with what He placed in their hands.

The work God assigns usually happens below the surface. Prayer, time in His Word, quiet obedience, and steady service to others prepare the ground where fruit eventually appears. Some seasons will show little on the vine, and others will produce more than expected. The believer’s calling is to keep tending the soil faithfully and trust the Lord of the harvest with what grows.

Today’s Prayer: Lord, help me tend faithfully what You have given me and trust You with the harvest. Amen.

Reflection Question: Where have you been measuring your walk with God by results you can count?