Lessons from a Blueberry Bush

There is much labor that goes into preparing a plot of land.  Unless you are the farmer or gardener, the toil may not always be evident, but the harvest is a sure reward. 

The opportunity of the work.  In picking blueberries, you are paying close attention to find only those which are ripened and ready. You leave the green berries for another time.  As we picked that day, there were plenty of blueberries, but there were still many that were green and not ready for harvest. Fortunately, there were others lined up to come and pick in the days that followed.  The green ones weren’t ready for me, but given a day or two, they would be ready for the next person to harvest.  There were plenty of berries to go around, and it served as a reminder that there were many willing to partake in the work.

The enemy of the work. I love birds.  I have a feeder in my yard, and I enjoy watching them come and go.  Of course, until I belled my cat, many birds came to my yard to die, but I digress.  Birds are part of God’s beautiful creation, but make no mistake, they are an enemy of the gardener and his blueberry bush.  The same goes for rabbits and deer and other wildlife.  To that end, these particular blueberry bushes are surrounded by an electric fence, in hopes to keep the enemies at bay.  But low and behold, as we picked blueberries the second day, I noticed a bird’s nest right smack in the middle of the blueberry bush.  As much as we may love birds and their sweet melodies, the blueberry bush is no place for the bird.  And on top of the enemies from without, unfortunately, there were thorny vines that found their way into the bush-enemies within.  Fortunately, the gardener was prepared and was able to cut the vines away before we started the work of picking. All that to say, there are enemies of the work. We must be aware and try to ward them off. We must be vigilant to protect the harvest.

So it is in our Christian walk.  It is a good work and a worthy work. However, we know that there are enemies of the work, and at times, we grow weary.  But we have a faithful Master Gardener who, in His generosity, plants the harvest and allows us to enjoy the fruit of His labor.  There will be times when you plant a seed, but someone else gets to water and watch it grow.  There will be times when you are the encourager, and there will be times when you need the encouragement. Working in the blueberry bush is always a humbling experience, but what a rewarding experience it is.