LESSONS FROM GROWING BLUEBERRIES

      A few years back I bought three blueberry bushes. I did a little research and found out that blueberry bushes are acid-loving, so I got some Miracid fertilizer, and they responded well. I also gave them a good covering of mulch in the fall, and then again in the spring. In the hot, dry days of July and August I watered them, and by even the second year I had a few blueberries starting to ripen. However, a robin that frequents our backyard also noticed that the blueberries were ripening, and the next day some of them were gone. So, I got some netting to keep the birds off. A few weeks later the Japanese beetles found the blueberry bushes, and i had to head off to Home Depot to get some beetle traps. The bushes have grown, and we now get about two gallons of blueberries between late June and early August., but only because I have continued to be diligent with fertilizer, mulch, watering, netting, and beetle traps. I could just buy blueberries at the store, but these berries are special, because they are ours. We raise them, we eat them fresh, and we enjoy blueberry pancakes all winter long from the ones we freeze - but only because we nurture and protect our blueberry plants.
     Paul instructs husbands in Ephesians 5:28&29 to "love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it just as Christ also does the church." When I follow Christ's example, when I love my wife, I nourish and cherish her. She knows when I am loving her in a self-sacrificial manner, and it blesses her. Our relationship deepens, she responds in love back to me, and the fruit of this mutual love is sweet. But it doesn't just happen. I have to work at laying down my life for her as Christ did for the church. I have to work at nourishing the relationship if I want to enjoy the fruit. I also have to work at nourishing the relationship from the enemy's attacks. If I just leave a small opening in the netting around my blueberries, that pesky robin will find his way in. He comes back every day looking for a hole in my defenses. His is relentless, just like sexual temptation, but I am determined to win both battles, the one for my blueberries, and the one for my marriage.
     My relationship with Jesus is likewise a relationship that must be nourished and protected. I nourish my relationship with Jesus as I spend time with Him - unhurried time that communicates my love and devotion. Being with other believers in fellowship and worship also plays an important part. What I have to guard against is just going through the motions, both in my morning times with Him and my desires (and deserves) my whole heart. Do I cherish Him above that this world offers? Have I allowed the cares of this life to erode my faith in Him? Have I allowed the cares of this life to steal away my passion for Him? He is my life, my hope, my future, and my eternal inheritance. So much is at stake that I cannot afford to do anything less than all that I can to nurture and protect my relationship with Jesus.