As many already know, I'm an autumn girl. Summer is not necessarily my favorite time of the year. Yet, one wonderful aspect of summer is blueberry season. As a child, when my dad would get the family in the car and share that we were going blueberry picking, there were usually heavy sighs from my brother and me. Yet, we would carry the blueberry bucket and pick those little gems. As an adult, I cherish those memories and look forward to getting into the blueberry patch.
Saturday morning was my day. I was the first one at the patch (ten minutes before it officially opened). The owner was gracious enough to let me begin my morning of happiness! Blueberry pickers can be a selective bunch. Once you pick a row, you pretty much have to stay there (an unwritten rule). Also, many pickers like selecting one or two bushes and staying there. Not me, I'm a nomadic picker - wandering from bush to bush for the perfect blue jewels. The bounty was great on Saturday and I picked over eight pounds in my bucket within a short period of time. Yet, the revelation came as I found one bush with so many berries on it.
I looked at all those berries and thought, "my goodness, my sins are much like these berries." The abundance of berries is what caught my attention and I realized that my sins were in abundance as well. Over the years there were "large" sins and "small" sins - yet as we know, all sins are the same to God. My heart began to ache as I realized that regardless of how hard I may try to "do good", my sinful nature creeps its way in. There are the sins that I commit, maybe not even realizing it at the time. There are others that I actually think about - and make the wrong decision to commit. Then there are the sins of things that I should do, but don't.
As I ran my fingers through the blueberry bushes, I realized the multitude of sins that I have in my "bucket". My heart grew heavy thinking of my sins. Then, by what can only be described as the Holy Spirit, my heart grew from heaviness to joyfulness - realizing that by the wonderful grace and love of Jesus - my bucket was free from sins and filled with blessings. By the incredible love of Jesus, my sins have been forgiven and forgotten. What a blessing!! That morning, in the blueberry patch, Jesus reminded me of how much he loves me - sins and all. What a glorious savior we have.
Sins can weigh heavy upon our shoulders. The memories of sins from long ago can creep back upon us and burden us. The love of Jesus takes care of that weight and brings us the blessing of everlasting life with him. There is no greater joy than that. The next time you may be feeling the weight of your sins, remember the blueberry patch of forgiveness, where the multitude of sins have been covered by the one who rejoices in us!
Dearest Jesus, thank you for loving us so very much that you sacrificed yourself for all of our sins. May we always look to you for guidance in our thoughts and actions and when we fall, please continue to be there to pick us up and love us. In your forgiving arms I rest, Amen!
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