Corona Devo 3233

We were gifted some fruit the other day, and one of the types of fruit in the bowl was foreign to us.  I like fruit, and I have eaten many kinds of fruit, but in the (gift) fruit bowl were about ten ping-pong-sized prickly-looking ball-shaped fruits.  The skin was rubbery and textured with (non-sharp) points.  

Don't these sound (and look) appetizing?

And when I cut them up for our consumption, the skin falls away easily, and then you are left with white, slippery, fleshy fruit.

Who's hungry?  

But...guess what?  Lychee fruit are good!  They taste...well, different than any fruit that I have had before, but lovely all the same.  And lovely all the different.  

Nevermind the prickly, ugly outer skin.  And let's look past the pasty color and slimy feel.

I like lychees now!  And if you are given the chance to try one, you will too.  

We just have to be open to liking them.

~~~

Whether we have a lychee fruit in our fruit bowl today or not, the odds are that somewhere on our docket/in our appointments/in our acquaintances/in our relationships/in our work or play today: we have something or someone prickly to deal with. 

Maybe even ugly (on the outside).

The odds are that we have something that we have a pre-disposed opinion or dislike of.  

Life is never perfect.  There are always going to be a few lychees in the fruit bowl of life.  Instances, people, circumstances...that are not appetizing to us.  

The question is--how will we handle them, and will we handle them?

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  ~Ephesians 6:10

As we read Bible passages involving Jesus, it seems that His purpose was to embrace the lychee fruits of this world.  Everyone that no one else wanted to deal with...Jesus dealt with.  And Jesus loved.  

And then guess what?  Jesus changed the hearts of those that others may have considered different, prickly, ugly, unclean, unworthy. 

Jesus loved them, as He loves us, because Jesus knew that they (also) were good, but sometimes they just didn't know it yet.   

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. (11) When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 

(12) On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. (13) But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’  For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  ~Matthew 9:10-13

Jesus knew a secret that most of us don't want to stoop down to hear Him whisper into our soul: Regardless of outer appearances or even inner sliminess...God loves everyone.  

Our purpose is to share that truth and love with others.   

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  ~Matthew 28:19-20

What people do with the love and truth of God is up to them and is between them and God.  

But if we claim to be following in the footsteps of Christ then we ought to be giving the lychee fruit in our bowls a fair shot and a taste of the Lord's love.

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. (2) A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. (3) He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. (4) So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 

(5) When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” (6) So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 

(7) All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 

(8) But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” 

(9) Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. (10) For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”  ~Luke 19:1-10

~~~

Just for kicks, go out and buy a lychee fruit and give it a taste!  I like lychees now!  And if you are given the chance to try one, you will too.  

And just for Jesus, go out and share God's love and truth with someone we would not normally have anything to do with.  

Watch what God does with our softened and willing-to-serve-our-King heart.  We just have to be open to liking them, and the Lord will take care of the details.

Lovely all the same.  And lovely all the different.  

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.  ~Psalm 34:8

Blessings,

sarah 

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com

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