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FRESH
FRUIT TASTES SO GOOD
Copyright
© 2001 by Debbie Porter
"The
strength of a man's virtue must not be measured by his efforts, but by his
ordinary life"
~
Blaise Pascal ~
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The
variety of desk calendars available now is quite amazing. Unfortunately it
does make it very hard to decide on which one to choose each time the New Year
rolls around. We gave up this year, and picked four - one for each of us!
The
one that receives the least attention (determined by the fact that several
days often pass before the pages are turned) is the one that resides on the
Office desk - The Guinness World Record Holder Calendar.
Some
of the Records leave me shaking my head in wonder. Wonder why anyone would
bother doing what they did in the first place, let alone tell the whole world
about it. Some are genuinely astounding and others seem a bit ho-hum. I mean,
seriously, does anyone really care whether someone made the biggest suitcase
in the world or baked the biggest brownie?
Well,
obviously someone does because these are bona fide records and come to think
of it, I probably would care about the biggest brownie if I'd been there to
eat it!
But
now and then there's a record holder from the natural world and that is rather
special. It's not something someone has gone out to do or make, but something
that's just happened by itself. One such thing was the world's heaviest peach.
Being
from a family of stone fruit fanciers, this was one record I wanted to see.
Now I don't quite know what I expected, something the size of a watermelon
perhaps, but this really didn't look much larger than an average sized orange
sitting on the palm of someone's hand. But it weighed in at 15 ounces and
that's one pretty hefty peach!
As
I looked at the picture I started to wonder what happened to this World Record
Holder. Did they preserve it for eternity so that people could come and gaze
in awe at the size of this colossus of the stone fruit world? Or did they
weigh it, take the photo and then gobble it up? After all that is what peaches
were designed for in the first place.
Then,
because my mind works in strange and mysterious ways, I really would have
loved to know whether it tasted as good as it looked. Was it sweet and
deliciously juicy on the inside, or hard and floury like the apples that my
Grandmother used to have in her fruit bowl?
We
do select our fruit largely based on appearance. No one in their right mind
would choose bruised, insect-damaged fruit if there was the option of luscious
looking, firm and intact fruit available from the same barrel. But appearance
only tells us so much.
Here
in Australia there's a wonderful range of fruit available, but not everything
is as tasty as it looks. Sadly, thanks to the chemicals used to prolong shelf
life, the days of soft and sweet strawberries seem to be almost a thing of the
past. Now they last longer, but are hard and tart to the tastebuds. No amount
of ice-cream or sugar changes the fact that the berries now taste like lumps
of cardboard. They last longer, but who cares?
Aroma
or fragrance is important in choosing our fruit as well. In fact, that
probably gives us a better idea of what's happening on the inside. Even then,
we can't always tell.
Speaking
of peaches inevitably brings back a memory from my teenage years, one that
still has the ability to make me shudder.
My
Mother had been on a trip for the weekend visiting relatives who had a small
orchard on their property. Being stone-fruit season, Mom had been blessed with
a large box of peaches straight from the trees and had brought them home for
us all to share.
The
sight of these magnificent orbs of golden delight sitting on the kitchen
counter was too much for a 15 year old girl and it wasn't long before I
selected the most flawless one to enjoy. Taking care to wash it under the tap,
I carefully shook off the drips and then took an enormous bite.
Dee-licious!
It was juicy, sweet and absolutely perfect. At least, so I thought. Even now I
couldn't tell you why I did what I did next. All I can say is that I'm
incredibly glad I did!
Without
thinking I idly prised the stone away from the flesh and lifted it off. That
was when it happened. A huge insect with great big legs scurried out from
under the stone and ran wildly off the edge of the now flying peach, landing
with the fruit in the kitchen sink.
To
say I screamed would probably be an understatement! What a treacherous thing
to happen. One minute I was enjoying the delights of summer and the next I was
vowing to never eat another peach as long as I lived.
It
had honestly looked so good! It had smelt delicious! But inside was another
story altogether.
As
Christians we want our lives to be delicious, fragrant and attractive to the
people around us. We should want others to be able to come and eat from the
"fruit" in our lives and smack their lips in delight wanting more of
what they've sampled. The last thing we want is for them to find the
"fruit" so disgusting that they quickly run in the opposite
direction trying desperately to rid themselves of the revolting taste! The
fruit in our lives should make their mouth's water for the One who gives us
the flavour, Jesus Christ.
Every
life will produce fruit of some kind - large or small; good or bad; sweet or
sour. It totally comes down to what we allow to have the greatest influence on
us.
In
Galatians 5:19-21 Paul points out very clearly what the fruit will be if we
let ourselves be led by our natural instincts and desires:
"The
acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and
debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage,
selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the
like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not
inherit the kingdom of God." (NIV)
At
a guess, I'd say that everyone reading this would be quick to say that we
don't practice witchcraft or run off to the local neighborhood orgies. But in
amongst the "big" things there are some "little" sour
fruits that may crop up in our lives from time to time - rage, selfish
ambition, dissension, jealousy, envy and even idolatry. These are the things
that will make our fruit distasteful if we let them grow in our lives.
But
thankfully, we have help in producing good fruit! Paul continues by saying:
"But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no
law."
(Galatians
5:22-23 NIV)
This
fruit doesn't just happen on its own. For there to be an abundant harvest of
every single one of these qualities, our lives have to be totally submitted to
the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit. Only then can we expect to see
this good fruit bursting out in profusion. I know that's what I want, and I'm
sure you do too! The boughs of my life absolutely hanging to the ground with
the weight of all those wonderful virtues!
When
people come and eat the fruit of our lives, may it always leave them longing
for more. It should, because the fresh fruit of the Holy Spirit always tastes
so good!
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