Blueberries and Blessings

In terms of eating, there are few things that I like better than free access to fresh fruit, especially fresh from the vine/tree/bush/bramble. This week marked the beginning of blueberry season for Alabama. I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since I learned that Uchee Pines has a berry farm. And as soon as I heard rumor that they were ready, I was one of the first to be out among the blueberry laden bushes with my bag, gathering the tasty little berries for my breakfast. Growing up, blueberries were usually too expensive to feed a family of 6. This spring for the first time in my life I’ve had the privilege of eating them to my heart’s content!

Naturally excited to tell anything good that others would enjoy, I’ve been announcing to all my classmates that the blueberries are ripe. At the breakfast table I’ve been sharing what I’ve picked too. (Note: I think most of the Uchee Pines is waiting till next week to start picking them. . . then they’ll be a bit sweeter they say. But I’ve never had anything but store-bought blueberries, so I don’t know the difference, lol.)

But I found something interesting; the staff who have been here for years are barely excited for blueberry season. One individual told me that she had had her fill of blueberries and unless someone baked her a blueberry pie, she probably wouldn’t bother with them this year!

I guess I was a little shocked at the apparent lack of enthusiasm for the blueberries. I mean, at the store they’re probably $5+ a pound and don’t have half the flavor that these have! But then I realized that in this experience there is a lesson for me.

The story of the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2 tells of a people who had first tasted the sweetness of God’s love and had committed their lives to Him, but had backslidden to complacency. They had forgotten their first love; the reality of Christ’s sacrifice had become dimmed. God’s counsel for them was, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works.” (Rev 2:5) 

God is calling to my heart. Don’t forget the sweetness of surrender, the blessings of salvation. Don’t get so “used” to them that you do not value them.

Listen to this, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2)

The people Paul is writing this epistle to have already heard the gospel preached, already received it, and already are living it out in their lives. But here is Paul, repeating the same truths to them yet again. You ask, “Why?” The last part of the verse makes it plain: because only when the truths of the gospel are kept fresh in our memory are they capable of saving us.

So now you have a lesson I learned in the blueberry patch. God Bless!