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Sunday, March 15, 2009

Raisins Are Ugly

I was making my husband's favorite cookies today, oatmeal raisin. And I took note of something so profound. Raisins are ugly.

Really...dried up, shriveled, lifeless little pieces of what used to be considered fruit.
And sadly enough, this made me think about some Christians.


Here is how a California raisin is made:


Grapes must be dried before they can be called raisins. The moisture content of the Thompson seedless grapes, from which natural seedless California raisins are made, is reduced by cutting the fresh grapes from the vine and allowing them to dry in the sun until the moisture level is roughly 15% to 18% water or lower.

Notice...to become a raisin, they must be removed from the vine...then left out in the sun to dry...basically sucking the life from the grape.


John 15:5-8
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
NIV


The grape needs the nourishment and protection of the vine to bear fruit and live. So do we. OR, we can walk around like an ugly raisin. And unfortunately, many do.

I am always amazed that we can (for instance) stand in a church service singing "Shout to the Lord all the earth, let us sing- power and majesty, praise to our King!" in the same monotone voice that we would rattle off a shopping list.

Now I know there are always those that say, 'I am not very expressive...I worship God the way I want to and it may be different than you'....blah, blah, blah.
Really? So let me ask...when your little girl gets all dressed up to show you her new dress and the ribbon in her hair...you look at her and emotionless say: "that is nice hunny" without even a smile??

That's what we do to God.

He's created the universe!
Think about it...CREATED the UNIVERSE....and we talk about Him as if He's as common as sliced bread.

Excuses me, but THIS is the God I'm talking about...


Nahum 1:5
The mountains quake before Him and the hills melt away.
The earth trembles at His presence, the world and all who live in it.
NIV

And I think He especially loves it when we honor Him...BEFORE the earth starts trembling and the mountains quaking.

Don't be a raisin Christian...stay attached to the vine ~ HIM ~ and show the world what true joy looks like.
Lay down our offenses and insecurities, quit complaining....and celebrate this awesome life He has given us!!!

If your heart is broken...bring it to Him for healing, He promised He would. And start living the life He intended you to live before the foundations of the earth!!!

Don't be a raisin...raisins are ugly.

21 comments:

Mom's Group said...

Fantastic!! Lets worship Him with passion and our whole being!!

Holly

Dionna said...

My husband's favorite cookie is oatmeal raisin too.

Isn't it fascinating how God can help us turn anything into an analogy drawn to Him?

SunnySusan said...

Sue~~you have such a way...I love it.

I was thinking that too...not about raisins tho.

When we go to a game...we even do "the wave".....

Funny....NOT....I am going to link this on my blog....it is so good....

Denise @ Sunflowers, Chocolate and Little Boys said...

You amaze me. I love how you can find a wonderful message in things like a raisin. {{{HUG}}} God bless you.

Karen Newman Fridy said...

Wow...this has to be one of the best posts I've read. Your words are a blessing!

Jenifer said...

Sue, this is great. I will never look at raisins in the same way again!

I made home-made cinnamin and raisin bread for my hubby this weekend! :)

Blessings!

Roo said...

love this post.

love you!

Anonymous said...

I love the analogy between raisins and praising God! I will never look at raisins the same again without thinking of this post.

Linda said...

My favorite cookie is Oatmeal raisin and I have never had that revelation. To think so much spiritual application from a little shriveled up raisin.. Awesome. Thanks for sharing what the Holy Spirit reveals to you.
Blessings,
Linda

A Stone Gatherer said...

All that from a raisin! Praise God I love how he uses all things to teach us! Great post Sue!

Susan Storm Smith said...

EXCELLENT! At first glance we don't really see all the wrinkles in the raisin, cooked together they blend and become a big goop. That's what I thought of reading how we can stand and sing like reciting a shopping list.

Loved the blog post ...

And pass the cookies :D

Melissa in Mel's World said...

That is so true, thanks for the reminder that we don't want to be like the raisin. I love that a simple act of love for your hubby turned into a blessing for us all!

Thanks Sue!

xoxo,
Melissa

amy & lisa said...

When I saw the title that Raisin's are ugly...I was like, oh ya!
I love how you've taken a simple raisin and brought us to God with it. Thank You. Love this post. :)

Anonymous said...

Cool analogy there! The good news is that raisins can plump up if they are given some water. :)

Pilgrim said...

I bet raisin's mommies think they are cute ;)


I love this post. You have made a great point, thank you.

Praise and Coffee said...

LOL, that's funny "me"!

LauraLee Shaw said...

Awesome analogy, Sue! I won't soon forget this! I know that sometimes I am like that raisin, but I so long to show His beautiful fruit each and every moment. Thank you for the admonishment!

Anonymous said...

Great lesson Sue. Sometimes I think the older we get, the more like raisins we become. I believe that the time ahead will change that for some of us as we are driven back to being thankful for whatever we have. Say hi to Mark for me. Tell him I miss him.

yp said...

Interesting... and making me hungry.

Tamatha said...

I like that "don't be a raisin...raisins are ugly"haha

Samantha said...

I just surfed in to your blog for the first time and really enjoyed this beautiful post!!!! I'll be back!

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