“Mmmm, these are sooo sweet!” I commented. As I spoke, the juice dribbled down my face, requiring the services of not one but two napkins.
I was enjoying the guilty pleasure of one of God’s most-perfect creations: a perfectly ripened strawberry. I have a secret for you: pick the strawberries that are the softest, because those are the sweetest. My kids, being young and inexperienced in the skills of the strawberry, typically pick the firmer, less “yucky-looking” ones; but that’s where their mistake is made. Because the strawberries look great, they’re typically very sour—and somewhat hard.
The secret to picking the best strawberries is all about maturity. By that I mean, you’ve got to know when they’re good and ripe and ready to be eaten.
Our mission here at Message is to help you to better know, love, and live Jesus. To be honest with you, there’s nothing worse or more painful than watching someone who only knows about Jesus try to share Him with others. I can imagine that to the person who’s on the receiving end of the “witness,” it’s pretty sour—and tough (pun totally intended).
I wholeheartedly agree with the Apostle Paul, as he wrote to the Christians living in Colossi; not only sharing the one true goal of his life, but the reason why he was so…crazy about Jesus:
Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me (Colossians1:24-29, NIV).
Paul’s biggest concern, was not that people would become Christians…or even that they would share Jesus with others; because he knew that once they met, and fell in love with Jesus, they would want to get to know Him better and better. Paul knew that they would mature as believers. They would ripen, if you will, into a sweet and tender individual who would not only be aware of their own shortcomings and thankful to God for the grace that had been extended to them, but more importantly, they would be sensitive to the needs and downfalls of others and would be able to use Godly discernment and wisdom, not just in what they shared with others, but also, how they shared it.
So I only have one question for you: are you sweet or sour? Meditate on that, because your answer determines how useful you can be to God and to others. If you’re being honest, you probably don’t feel like you’re mature enough. I don’t suspect any follower of Jesus who has a clear understanding of their own sin, God’s grace, patience, forgiveness, and mercy would actually admit that they’re satisfied with their level of maturity; I know that I’m certainly not.
Maturing in God
Paul, one of the most important followers of Jesus in the early church, didn’t feel that he had grown to the level of maturity that God desired for him; because of this he wrote about what he felt was the one big thing God uses to mature His followers–suffering:
You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.
This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.
But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (1 Corinthians 4: 5-18, NLT).
Suffering: The Great Tenderizer
It’s been said that there’s nothing better or quicker that God can use to get someone’s attention than some suffering. Many people call it the great tenderizer, in that it tends to make the person who suffers more aware, sensitive, and empathetic to the suffering of others around them. In the “Additional Resources” section below, I’ve included information on Joni Eareckson Tada, a woman who has been a paraplegic for fifty years now. I strongly encourage you to take the time to watch her entire life story, I know that you’ll be blown away by how God has used this Godly woman to bless the world.
I know that this is not a popular word or concept in our culture, but the Bible addresses this issue comprehensively; in fact, there’s actually one whole book of the Bible dedicated to addressing these critical life questions and finding reasonable and logical answers to the difficult life questions that many people have, who are struggling with these issues. I don’t know about you, but this issue totally freaks me out! Honestly, I don’t really know anyone who’s cool with going through suffering in their life.
As you think about how you’ve had to deal with suffering in your life, how has it made you more mature in your faith? Has it made you more kind, patient, understanding, sensitive, or empathetic towards others who may be struggling in some way?
And then think about how what’s happened in your life can help you to more effectively share God’s love with others. That’s the whole reason why we’re on this earth, anyhow.
Sweet & Shining
When it comes to living life and interacting with others, God wants us to be sweet and tender, not tough and sour, shining out His light for the world to see! Jesus reminded His followers: “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:14-16, NLT). The same Paul who wrote about suffering also wrote: “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people” (Philippians 2:13-15, NLT). It’s the Christian’s job to make the world a better place, not a bitter place. I hope and pray that others, through their interactions with you will be able to have a clearer perspective about who Jesus is and what He wants to do in their lives.
Additional Resources
