Not all fruit is ready to pick. It takes time for the sweet flavors to develop. Pluck the strawberry too early, and expect it to be bitter. Bananas will be hard and tasteless. Oranges? Yech!
We have to look for the ripe fruit. We also must be certain that we don’t let the fruit remain on the branch too long. When it’s overly ripe, spoilage begins to set in. We’ve lost the opportunity to harvest the best of the crop.
God has placed apples on our tree. We watch them as they mature, care for them as they blush red, and reach for them at just the right moment, selecting each one at the perfect time to enjoy its perfection.
Here are a few of the apples on our tree:
Psalm 127:3 gives us our Jonagold, sweet with a hint of tartness. We learn to enjoy the tart with the sweet.
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.”
2 Timothy 3:16 reads like a Jazz variety, crunchy and full of sweet juice. It’s something we can sink our teeth into.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11 is our Granny Smith, tart and firm. We can’t be wishy-washy when we’re dealing with our eternal salvation.
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 has the flavor of a Golden Delicious, crisp, sweet, and great for all uses. When we share this apple, the world will find the Lord to be tasty, indeed.
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Let’s get our fruit-picking hands ready. The harvest is ripe. We need to share our good apples with the world.
It’s time to pick the best of what God’s given us and share it with the people at our side.
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Code: FGO.D.11.16b.vp.esv