Half Ready

July 15, 2023

Wow, that little pear tree has over a hundred large pears this year! I wondered if it could keep supporting them, all the way to ripeness.

Well, it turned out that it could not. We had a couple windy days, and several pears dropped prematurely. What can I do with fruit that’s not yet ripe?

We decided to taste some. Surprisingly, they did not taste bad. They just tasted…weak. Some people have never eaten pears. If I was going to try to get someone to fall for the wonderful taste of pears, this might or might not be effective. Still, it might persuade one or two.

The alternative is to not use the premature fruit at all. We could just leave it on the ground. No, let’s try something different. Maybe we could try dehydrating them!

We washed, peeled, cored and sliced them. They are now in the drier. We’ll see, maybe they’ll be the new sensation and draw new fans to pears!

In the same way…

People don’t share the good news that Jesus died for them because they think their knowledge of the Bible is not “ripe,” not fully developed. They wait and wait, and wait some more. One day they’ll know all the answers and be confident telling others about God’s great plan of salvation.

God uses unripe Christians!

Somebody with all the answers can sometimes scare people away. You may be able to explain things, from your own experience, that others would make sound too complicated.

For someone that’s starving, a pear that’s a little green might be a lifesaver!

“When I was desperate, I called out, and God got me out of a tight spot.”

Psalm 34:6 The Message Bible