When Judging Makes a Difference
My go-to grocery store was out of watermelons when I shopped. But not yesterday. They were fully stocked. I brought one home, cut myself a slice and, YES – sweet, juicy, and seedless. Yum!
Watermelon is my favorite summer fruit. It’s amusing to watch people thumping on watermelons trying to find the best one. I could never nail that sound. I finally aced my watermelon sweetness picks:
~ Make sure it has a prominent yellow spot. This is where it sat on the ground ripening. No spot = premature pick = not ripe.
~ Look for “webbing”. This is the brown, coarse web-looking areas caused when bees pollinate the flower and scar the membranes that later form the fruit. The more pollination = more webbing = sweeter fruit. **You’re welcome!!!**
Did you read between the lines of picking a sweet watermelon? We need to find the sweetest ones by looking for imperfections, flaws, defects, yellow spots, brown, coarse webbing, and scars.
Yes, we SHOULD judge a watermelon by its cover – but NEVER should we judge a book OR another person by their cover. Those perfect and well put together, dressed-to-the-nines folks might be filled with pain, rejection, and fear. And those with scars, body piercings, tattoos, or multi-colored hairdos might be the most genuine, loving, and caring people with hearts after God and care more about others than we can imagine. Only God knows the hearts of His children and is their “fruit inspector”.
I was just reading in my Bible about the Lord sending the prophet Samuel to Jesse’s home to anoint the next king of Israel. Jesse had eight sons to choose from, but only brought in seven of them. Sure, with Samuel’s eyes, it was plain to see that the obvious pick was the tallest, most handsome, and best choice to be king – Eliab. “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
Number 8 son — young, ruddy, shepherd-boy David was overlooked. In fact, he wasn’t even invited to the “beauty pageant”. Samuel asked, “Are these all of your sons?” Jesse replied, “I have one more son but he’s just a young shepherd boy, David.” Samuel asked for him to join the “pageant”!
We know the rest of that story. Young David was anointed King of Israel that day because “His heart was a heart after God’s own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14)
What God cares about the most is the sweetness of the fruit that is growing inside us. Our Master “Picker” sees that we are all precious and valuable, but He gives us “heavenly” thumping every now and then to keep reminding us that we have a ways to go in the “maturing” process. I know He is always working on me to make me what I ought to be. I need that thumping!
Obviously, this post is pointed at you with one-finger. The other four are pointing back at me. I’m on a mission to have my Father’s eyes. Eyes that find the good in things and people; eyes full of compassion and sensitivity and NOT looking at the outward appearance.
Sure we all have imperfections and flaws and that’s a good thing because, like the watermelon — the greater the flaws and imperfections…..the sweeter the fruit. I certainly want the Fruit of the Spirit to reflect He who is the sweetest and most desirable in me.
May we be imitators of our Creator as we look inside at ourselves and others and the beauty He placed in us. May our “fruit inspecting” be full of God’s love and great expectations for the sweetness inside!