Today's Scripture Reading (April 26, 2023): 2 Kings 19
Everyone knows that fruits and vegetables are
necessary for healthy living. Personally, that is not necessarily a good thing.
I love fruit, but my love doesn't extend to their cousins, the vegetable.
However, can you tell the difference between the two? Maybe, for me, it could
be defined as things I like are fruits and things I don't like are vegetables,
although I understand that isn't all that informative.
Botanically, the difference between a fruit and a
vegetable is relatively simple. A fruit develops from the flower of the plant.
Fruits begin their lives as a flower and become the thing that we eat. So,
every spring, the apple tree in my backyard bursts forth into little white and
light pink blossoms, which will be the delicious apples I love to consume by
fall. If the food we eat comes from any other part of the plant, such roots,
stem, or leaves, it is an evil vegetable.
From a culinary point of view, the difference between
a fruit and a vegetable is based on taste. Fruits tend to be sweet or tart and
can be used in desserts, while vegetables are savory and more often used as a
side dish or as part of the main course, which carries us back to my definition
of fruits as being things I like to eat.
Botanically, there are many fruits that we think are
vegetables. The most famous of these mislabeled fruits are tomatoes. But tomatoes
are not the only fruits that we call vegetables. Mislabeled fruits also include
avocados, cucumbers, peppers, olives, pumpkins, and pea pods, among others. So
maybe my definition of a fruit and vegetable isn't all that bad after all.
Here, the author of Kings is talking specifically of
fruits, which is good news. But, of course, even fruits have roots, although we
don't eat them. Returning to my apple tree, I know the tree's roots go deep
into the ground, bringing nutrients up to the tree, the leaves, and the flowers,
which will soon be apples.
And if all this sounds simple and normal, you are
right. That is precisely the point the author of 2 Kings is attempting to make.
The nation was entering a period of great stress. But the day was coming, and
it was not far away, when everything in Judah would return to normal. The
remnant, those who would survive this time of stress, would return to a state
of normality. They would be able to put down roots and bear fruit. A time of
health was coming. This message was intended to serve as a message of hope for
those who heard the prophet's message. A struggle was coming, but so was a return
to normalcy for the nation.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Nahum 1
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