It was a delightful morning in the blackberry patch today. Yesterday’s rain washed some of the heat and humidity out of the air. The patch was still in the shade that early in the morning. And several interesting thoughts occurred to me.
From a distance, the blackberry patch doesn’t look like there’s much fruit left this summer. But after thirty minutes of picking, I had half a gallon. That’s pretty good for going into the third week of the blackberry harvest! And isn’t it interesting how that works in our lives as well? As people get older, they start to feel like they don’t have much left to offer - to other people or to God. But that’s just not the case. There’s still much valuable fruit for the kingdom!
I like picking blackberries because the really ripe ones have to go into my mouth. If I put them in the bucket and brought them into the house to wash, they’d just fall apart. They’re that ripe. So into my mouth they go. So sweet. So incredibly delicious! But they are so ripe that sometimes they disintegrate and I end up dropping them instead. It makes me think of that saying: There’s many a slip between cup and lip. You have something so very precious in your hand and it never makes it into your mouth. Sometimes it’s through carelessness, not paying close enough attention, or because you don’t care enough to be intentional about it. I hope we don’t treat our relationship with God that way! If we truly recognized the value of the relationship we would make it a priority so that it didn’t slip through our fingers. And oh how very sweet and precious that relationship with God is!!
Part of picking blackberries is wading into the patch. Thankfully there aren’t too many chiggers this summer, although I am sporting a few bites. But the other blessing in our patch is that a church friend, Virgel Tow, bought those blackberry bushes for us many years ago when he saw them on sale. He thought we needed thornless blackberries. Oh how many times over the years I have mentally thanked Virgel that they are thornless - and I did again this morning as I was wading into the patch. It was bittersweet this year though, because Virgel’s funeral was this week. So I couldn’t help thinking about how one small action can have such a huge impact in another person’s life and continues to impact them even after you’re gone. It’s important to take time to help others, pray for them, talk with them, be kind to them. You never know what lasting impact you can have for the kingdom.
Because the blackberries are thornless, I’m more willing to dive into the middle of the patch, but it’s still rather tricky. Those blackberry shoots go all directions and it’s easy to get tripped up while you’re reaching for a berry just out of reach. It’s a good reminder to remember that even when it’s a fairly safe endeavor, there are still things which can cause you to stumble if you’re not paying attention.
The next thought which intruded upon my blackberry picking involved the cat. That cat followed me into the blackberry patch. Who knows why! Maybe she was just curious as to what I was doing - because after all, curiosity and all that. But isn’t it interesting how our actions are viewed by people around us. Because we love God and honor Him by obeying His commandments, others are intrigued by what they see in our lives. They might be attracted to Christ because of our actions, just as a cat was attracted to the blackberry patch. (The dogs follow me out to the blackberry patch hoping I’ll give them bites. But I’ve never seen the cat eat a blackberry . . . )
And along the lines of life, I thought about how wonderful the blackberry harvest has been this year. The three weeks of rain we had in late June/early July did wonders for our harvest. They are huge and juicy and sweet. Of course, the Living Water in our lives makes all the difference too, doesn’t it!? We are much more visible, more sweet and flavorful, if we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. We make a better impression for God if we are sustained by the Living Water!
The last thought which attracted my attention as I was picking blackberries is the phrase: Good is good enough. I probably could have found another handful of blackberries had I really worked at it. But there comes a time when good is good enough. I don’t need to pick every berry. It’s just not worth the effort and besides, the birds like the ones I leave. So are there things in our lives that we just need to identify as being done well enough and call it good? It’s a balance, I know, because we are working for the Lord and we want to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. But keeping every speck of dust out of your house, every tiny weed out of the garden, picking every blackberry, - there comes a point when we realize that we should be doing something more valuable with our time. Good is good enough for that particular task.
Last thought of the day: I have to do something with my berries. The kids are eating a lot of them fresh, taking them to work in their lunch every day. But there’s a few left over. What a shame it would be to let them get moldy. All that picking wasted! All that wonderful fruit gone to waste. In a similar way, if you have something you can do for God today, do it. Don’t wait. Redeem the time for the days are evil. We don’t know how much time each of us has. Make the most of it. Me, I’m going to be making blackberry jelly.
RSS Feed