We can see examples of biblical principles all around us. We should expect to find these visual “parables” because the God that preserved His written Word for us is also the same One that created all in this universe.
Our Creator has not left you on your own. He wants you to see and follow His way, and there are many ways to see it.
While picking blueberries from my sprawling bushes, I related many situations of that job to principles about our handling of God’s Word. I was reminded that:
- Although you think you picked all the juicy berries in front of you, when you look back to where you have already picked, you find you missed some. Often, they are hidden behind leaves or branches that shielded them when picking from another direction.
This brought to mind the many times I have read certain scriptures, but the principles were not understood at the time or were not relevant to me when they were first read. However, when in need of specific godly advice, the same verse can be looked at from the angle of need, and it becomes a light or solution to a situation one is currently facing. When most of the Bible is read, we may not always get something to apply to our life at the time, but when it is needed, God allows us to understand His advice. - Sometimes, good fruit has fallen off the bush and lies wasted at the tree’s base. We often read the Bible with other things on our mind and miss God’s advice that could help us.
- Unharvested, ripe fruit laying at the base of bushes also pictures godly direction that one never bothered to glean from God’s preserved, road-map for life. Solutions to problems are close, but the pages of the Bible are not opened to find it.
- Sometimes berries have rotted or have been ruined by nibbling birds. Too often, we read something in God’s Word and believe it means what we were previously told it meant. We fail to study what other Scriptures say about the situation and believe unusable, untrue doctrines.
- Sometimes a strong wind came and blew much of the fruit off the tree. Those wasting winds were like many false teachings that have been heard. They invalidate the truth and value of God’s Word, causing people to pay no mind to the Bible’s advice. Untrue statements like “A bunch of old men wrote the Book, and it is not what God said,” “There are errors in the Bible, “It cannot be trusted,” and “Different versions say it better” convince too many to ignore the Bible’s truths.
- Sometimes, intermingled among the branches, a wild, thorned blackberry bush manages to grow. Among delicious blueberries, blackberries are tempting fruits, but they are not blueberries. However, when picked, one gets scratched, and annoying chingers cause tremendous itching. For the next few days, one regrets being tempted to pick those non-blueberries because of the painful scratches and the insect bites.
Likewise, Christians that get side-tracked from doing God’s will and way by some unscriptural temptations many times regret straying from God’s direction for them. Too often wrong acquaintances, watered-down Bibles, unbiblical doctrines, and involvement in sin get one off-course from God’s direction, and it causes much regret.
Life certainly is not a bowl of blueberries. There is not much easy picking, and it requires much work and discernment.
Read and study God’s Word. Pay attention to every Word because one day you will need His wisdom. Do not be distracted by philosophies, opinions, or popular trends if they do not align with what is taught in the Bible. God does not desire you to go through life without His help. His Way is there for you to follow. Read and apply His Truths.
