06/30/08

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12:24

It is pretty amazing how God has wired the world if you think about it long enough. We were over at Jeff and Jennifer’s house on Saturday night having dinner, and they have some blueberry bushes out next to their house. When I got there they were all picking cups of blueberries. We went in and had dinner and after dinner Jennifer said she would make a blueberry cobbler with the berries they had picked. So she put a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and the next thing you know my daughter emerges onto the front porch with a bowl of cobbler topped off with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream! Oh my goodness it was the nectar of the gods!

This morning as I was sitting in my office and thinking about life, today’s Scripture came to my head, and then the blueberry cobbler came to my head. Why? Well I think they are synonymous. Let’s look at a couple of things together. . .

1.                           The blueberries we picked had gone as far as they could go where they were before starting to be no good for anything. In our lives there is only so far that God will grow us before we have to let that part of us be picked. For instance, some have a divorce in their past, some have molestation in their past, some have addiction in their past and that is okay. It is okay that we deal with those things, but there comes a time when God is ready to pick that out of your life! Because here is the most important thing, you will remain where you are until you let God pick that thing you are holding onto out of your life! This is the reason why so many people start out having a great relationship with God and then they get stagnant, they quit letting God pick the blueberries out of their life!

2.                           Picking them removed them from their dependant source of life. We can become dependant on our past, kind of like a trophy. And if we are not careful we will identify ourselves by our past. I am a divorcee, I am an alcoholic, I am overweight, whatever it is it becomes our trophy and we feed off of that. For instance, I have always struggled with my weight and my eating habits and for years and years I used my weight as a trophy. People would call me big daddy, or I would brag about the size of my shirts while deep down inside I knew I was killing myself. You see that thing had become my trophy. But God wanted to pick that out of my life, and He did, and I am no longer dependant on my size to be my source of strength. That one was hard to explain I hope it made sense.

3.                           But by picking them and changing them for the better, joy was brought too many lives. You see the “blueberries” that are in our lives are not useless, oh no not at all, they are very useful. Because God will take all of your “blueberries” mix them together as you let Him pick them, make a cobbler, and other people can have joy and peace because you let God make a cobbler of your life! You see everything that happens, happens for a reason. There is nothing in your life, I don’t care what it is, that God cannot use for His glory and your good! God is in the business of making chicken salad out of chicken poop!

I hope this was helpful to you guys. I love you all. Have a great week!

Pastor Jason Lyle 
The Open Range Church of Henry County 
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.