This is my last post on things you find at Walmart. Next week I start on an all new thread, Discipleship and the Zoo.
Dole Pineapple traces its roots in the year 1901 in Hawaii. It didn’t take long for Dole to capture the taste buds of the mainland, eventually the world. The secret lay in determining whether a pineapple was best suited to be canned as fruit or made into juice. Ripe fruit was canned and unripe fruit was made into juice.
The trick was to be able to tell which was ripe and unripe so that they can be canned as fruit or made into juice immediately after harvest. By putting the fruit in a vat of water they discovered which was which, ripe fruit float and unripe fruit don’t.
This is true of discipleship relationships. Too many Christians write people off just because they are not ready to receive the Lord at the time of their encounter. What they don’t realize is someday like a pineapple they too will ripen. The key is to stay connected in a relationship.
In time like ripened pineapples those who are ready to receive the Lord will float and become obvious. Instead of trying to convert people we need to simply keep the relationships and trust the Holy Spirit to show us who are ripe fruit and are ready to receive the Lord.
Fact is almost everyone will ripen someday and even if they don't you can enjoy the uniquness of each indivdual relationship God allows to cross your path. Keep sowing, be patient and harvest those relationships that have become ripe. In the meantime enjoy the juice of their friendship.
He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain-first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come." Mark 4:26-29
See also: Prayer and New Balance Shoes
3 comments:
I love your blog, Joey. It makes the scriptures easy to understand and apply to ones life as a disciple. Thanks for your insights. I will be sure to add your blog to my blogroll and I will be sure to visit your blog regularly for a dose of discipleship. Thanks.
Be sure to visit my blog at www.anonymousdiscipleship.blogspot.com
I have learned that through the years, Ptr. Joey. It is a cliche, I know, but I have learned to "let go and let God." I keep reminding myself (and others), if you love that person enough to share the gospel w/ him/her, God loves him/her more. Therefore, God will make a way, when our loving efforts "seem to" fall short.
I want to float and make a difference; to be ripe enough, to be sweet enough so that God can use me for His pleasure and purpose. It was because of such a desire that I started falling into the "expectation" trap, that I had to do this and do that...but I always remember Philippians 2:13: "It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."
Like Ptr. Steve's reminded us and encouraged all of us at this year's conference - love others.
Thank you for teaching us how to pursue, press through, and preserve relationships in order to be good disciples as well as good disciplers.
That's a great life lesson, Pastor Joey. It's true what you said about some fruits not ever floating. I pray those I have relations with will float someday. Thanks!
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