Heirloom Culture

Believers’ lives are being weaved to the desired end of inheriting the characteristics of Jesus.  My wife and I had an unusual event happened to us at Whole Foods vegetable section the other day.  As we mosey through the aisles picking out different items dropping them in our basket, we arrived at the tomato section.  On display was a huge garden box of unusual tomatoes. The sign above read “Heirloom Tomatoes.” The heirloom tomatoes are neither solid red nor were their shapes round smooth like the standard variety of tomatoes. These heirloom tomatoes were shades of green and yellow and oddly shaped. The manager for the vegetable section happened to be there, and I asked him, “What was the difference between the heirloom tomatoes and the usual ones seen in stores for sale?” Proudly he responded, “Heirlooms are not genetically engineered breeds that are a hybrid or a GMO tomato. The heirloom is from the original seed which passes down from generation to generation to preserving its originality.”

The seed has an outer coating to protect it and a dormant embryo with the DNA code to reproduce like kind under the right conditions. The encounter got me to thinking about the importance of the original seed of plants to maintain its first characteristics and how it can be related to many different applications in life.

The prefix of heirloom, “Heir” means a person who inherits property or its nature from another. The suffix of the word “loom” means to weave together into the desired likeness. Therefore, it is the continual cultivation of the original seed keeping it as pure as humanly possible. The heirloom maintains its consistency from generation to generation. The hybrid gets weaker from generation to generation. A hybrid or GMO is for commercialization. The conjoining of different kinds of seeds sullies the singular attributes of the pure seed.

We read as a metaphor and as a practical agriculture principle in Deuteronomy 22: 9 “You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed which you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled.

Israel was depicted as a nation of many vineyards. A healthy vineyard would produce excellent fruit and wine to enjoy. It can be portrayed in the New Testament as fruit of the Holy Spirit.  In Ephesians 5:18 we read, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” Again we read in Ephesians 5:8-11 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” Notice it sates above what is acceptable to the Lord. An attribute of love is giving and forgiving, which is acceptable to Lord. Acts 10:4 “And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.” Observe, his prayers and giving was pleasing to the Lord. I would say Cornelius’ vineyard, or heart was pure.

Now that we are born again let us not take the seeds of this world and mix them with the seed from heaven. We read in 1Peter 1: 22-25: “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the LORD endures forever.” Every word of God is a doorway to a principle of life or of import to convey a connection to Him.

Jeremiah 1:11:12 “The Word of the Lord came to me saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” I see the rod of the almond (watching) tree. “You have seen well for I am watching over my word to perform it.”

In Palestine, the almond tree was the first tree to bud. It was said that the tree never slept and was always watching for the arrival of spring. That was why some referred to it as the watching tree. Like the almond tree watching for the arrival of spring, God watches over your life waiting the season in which His promises to you will come to pass. Sometimes his promises come forth in our lives without delay and other times His word to us remains dormant for many years.  At times we wonder if the promise will ever come to pass. Often, once the word is received, we will experience trials, hardships, or warfare that seem to present an opposite reality of what it is we have been guaranteed. The living logos (Word of God) lives in the believer working in us from the inside out, but not without a fight. John10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy [His word]. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.”

God is eternal.
His word is eternal.
God changes not.

We are born again
His Divine Nature is in us.
Therefore, His incorruptible word is in us.
Changing us to be more like Him.

Conclusion: Since, God is eternal, how can His word end? It has no beginning. How can something end that has no beginning? His word can never end; it can only be transitional with the same intent it had when He first spoke it into existence. The practice ended, but not the principle or rule of life.

Keep the Sabbath. “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath,

From doing your pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight,
The holy day of the LORD honorable,
And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,
Nor finding your own pleasure,
Nor speaking your own words,
14     Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD;
And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth,
And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

The Christ on the cross was the Christ that created all things in Genesis. We see a transition of the fifth commandment of the Dialogue to honor the Sabbath into the command to keep Lord’s Day in the new Testament.  In Revelations 1:0 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day… “

The earliest Biblical example of Christians meeting on a Sunday for the purpose of “breaking bread” and preaching is cited in the New Testament Acts 20:7. “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.” Every day is holy, but one is designated for rest.

Example: God is Holy. For something that is presented to God by man, if it is evil and God does not correct the action of His creation it would be an evil found in Him. Genesis 4:4 “Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering…” The Lord respected the first part from Abel. The giving of the first part will always be respected and be righteous before the Lord. Its application of faith how it is presented to the Lord might vary, but it will always be respected and accepted by God as Holy. We read in Acts 10:1-4 “There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, Lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.”  Again we read in Philippians 4:16-18 “For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed, I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. All giving with faith is a pleasing aroma to God.”

Therefore, God’s laws or precepts can never end. Since God is Holy and His Nature resides in us, then it is natural that we hate evil. Since His attributes are in us we should love what He loves and Hate what He hates. God is love.  Romans 12:9 “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” Again in Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” The attributes of love are found in Galatians 5:22-24 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” The attributes of giving are stated above, as these are the attributes of God. Christians should be on guard and not corrupt the seed of God that is in us by straining gnats about what is righteous.

Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” The word sacrifice above is the expansions of all that is connected with you.

Are you a heirloom Christian or an MSB (modified spiritual believer)?