Grow To Go!

On our farm in Tennessee, you will often encounter the Hedge Apple tree.  This tree was used in the mid-nineteenth century as a natural hedge—a living fence.  It has a fruit thought to be hazardous to cattle but recently has been proven non-toxic.  If the cow dies from eating the fruit it is usually from choking.  It also has the common name Bodark.  I have cut and burned much of it to create more grazing for our cattle.  Left unattended, a farm can be overtaken by this prolific tree. 

Kudzu may be a plant with which you are more familiar.  It has been dubbed “the vine that ate the south.” It is a plant brought here for the purpose of erosion control.  In the growing season, kudzu can grow one foot a day.  In its native land of China, Korea and Japan, it has many uses.  It is very interesting so you might want to read up on this vine that can appear beautiful; though we often consider it a curse to our landscape.  

  I am convinced that our growth in Christ is much more eternal than creating borders or stopping erosion.  Consider this with me—Grow to Go!  Often in churches we grow to grow.  We join one bible study after another to grow our faith to grow our faith and then to grow…you see my point. Grow to go! Looking at it another way, these two plants do teach us that very thing…Grow to go!