It’s hard to beat juicy red strawberries fresh from the patch — and I must say the birds seem to agree with me.
Those ornery things certainly know what they’re doing. They bide their time, waiting for the berries to change from a pale green to a bright red, signaling that the fruit is now tasty and ripe for the picking. What they fail to realize (or are simply ignoring!) is that those berries are ours for the picking. My husband Don planted the patch years ago, and it’s in our yard. But the lure of the delicious fruit has turned our friendly neighborhood birds into sneaky strawberry patch trespassers. Cute trespassers, yes, but trespassers nonetheless :)
Their thievery is nothing new. It happens every May. The thing that makes their crime so heinous this year, though, is that the patch didn’t produce last year. In fact, for whatever reason (probably the dry summer preceding), it almost completely died out. We didn’t enjoy even one fresh-from-the-patch strawberry last spring.
But miracle of all miracles, the patch made a comeback this season. No, it’s not back in all it’s glory yet, but several plants are up and sending out runners, and most importantly, producing their coveted red diamonds. Uhhh, I mean strawberries :)
As you can tell, I love strawberries straight from the patch (so much tastier than those from the grocery store), and I don’t particularly feel like sharing with the birds this year. After all, we didn’t get any berries last year, and this year’s comeback fruit is precious indeed. So if you drive by and see me running through the yard waving my arms, you’ll know I’m after some ornery little trespassers :)
Anyone trying to steal your fruit? Oh, you may not have fruit in a patch or on a tree, but I bet you’re growing fruit of an even more important variety — the good fruit the Lord is growing in you. Things like love and forgiveness or patience and a giving spirit. Maybe it’s courage or perseverance or perhaps even leading others to know Him.
We have an enemy who knows what he’s doing and is willing to bide his time until just the right moment. He wants to sneak in and steal our fruit, and our joy, and our walk with the Lord. And he’ll use about anything or anyone to do it. Let’s be alert to his tactics and run the ole trespasser off every chance we get, okay? Remember, our fruit is precious indeed!
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10
*Flickr photo by *clairity*, Creative Commons License
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