"Melon Full of Seeds"

No Seeds Please!

Have you ever prepared an orange, apple or melon for your child and removed the seeds for them so that they wouldn't need to worry about swallowing any of them? Last night as I began to prepare some cantaloupe and water melon I was trying to make the experience as enjoyable and task free as I could, so I was removing the seeds.

With the cantaloupe it was basically impossible not to remove the seeds because they are all right in the middle and just get scooped out before slicing it up to eat. But the melon was a different story all together! That water melon must have been the most seedy melon I have ever cut, if there is such a word as seedy. If it had been a woman, God would have said it was blessed because I could have planted a hundred more melon plants from the seeds of this one melon.

As I was removing the seeds for my daughter ahead of time, I began to realize that I should leave a few seeds so that she wouldn't forget about how much work is involved in eating a melon. I also thought that she might actually appreciate the work I had done if she had to remove a few herself so that she could see how much trouble I had spared her. Sure enough as she was eating the melon she mentioned that she had swallowed a seed instead of the melon and I mentioned that I had gotten most of the seeds out. She then said, "Oh, you did?" I thought to myself, "She didn't realize that I had removed them because she didn't see the seeds in the melon before."

Then I thought about how much she would enjoy the heart of the melon that had no seeds to mess with and enjoy the refreshment of it as she tasted the sweetness that is only found there.
She had experienced the seeds! She had realized that I had taken allot of the seeds away and she had come to appreciate what I had done! Now it was time to indulge in the real deal! it was time to enjoy and did we ever! We sat there in total delight as we filled our mouths with sweet seedless melon and uttered sounds, such as, "Ummm!" and I watched the expressions on her face as she took in the sweetness of the moment. We truly were enjoying the heart of the matter, so to speak!

You know, it made me think about our lives and how we might feel sometimes. I know that as a parent we aren't always appreciated by our children but maybe we are just as guilty at times when our heavenly father leaves a few seeds in the melon for us to pick out ourselves so that we can see the aggravation of dealing with things that slow us down when we just want to enjoy and have fun. Those seeds can turn an enjoyable experience into a bit of a task sometimes! It might be in the form of a sick child while on vacation or a flat tire on the way to work. Maybe it's a sick spouse on the night of a ballgame or women's night out. What are you going to do? Throw the melon away or finish picking out the seeds?

You see, God HAS already picked out allot of the seeds in the melon but he allows us to pick a few out as well so that we will learn to appreciate all of the things He has done for us before. Then there will come a time when God will allow us to enjoy the heart of the melon! No seeds! No rind! Just lean back and delight in the sweetness of His presence and glory! I feel like this when I get down on my knees before God each day! Yes, that is the heart of the melon for me and it is sweet, especially after dealing with the seeds of trouble all day long. God is certainly good to us in so many ways that we don't even know!

Then I thought about the cantaloupe and how easy it is to scoop those seeds right out of the middle and indulge in it's juicy sweetness.

Isn't that how we want life to be? Get those seeds of trouble and sickness out of my life and let me live in the sweet blessings of God alone! Just give me the cantaloupe! That's right! I'm now an official cantaloupe servant of God!

I'll quickly scoop the seeds out in great timing so that everyone will be impressed with my talents and then we can indulge in the praise and worship of God! Wow! Isn't that what we are all looking for? A church or a pastor or a small group where everyone is happy all the time and there's nothing but blessings? That sounds like a good car salesman but it's not going to he found in real life folks! This world is not going to be without trouble! Rather than expecting God to instantly scoop all of our troubles away and give us nothing but sweet blessings, we need to realize that there are going to be troubles and prepare ourselves to sort through them as we remember to show appreciation for the things that our Lord has allowed us to be spared. You can know that the day is coming when we will all stand before God and if you believe and trust in Him in this life, you will taste of the heart of the melon; the sweetness of total peace that never passes away! Ummm!

Maybe your life is full of seeds and you can't figure it out! How come others lives are almost totally seedless but I can't take a bite without getting a mouthful of seeds? I'm going to tell you something that might shock you! I am right there with you! Yes, my life has been full of seeds ever since I asked God in 2004 to use me and bless me indeed with all of His blessings. That's right! When I asked for blessings, wisdom and knowledge; God gave me troubles, adversity and sickness. I remember at first, thinking that I was under attack by Satan but I began to realize that God did hear my prayers and yet He wanted me to become content right where I was at. Sitting right in the middle of a garden of the most seedy melons I had ever seen! "Why me!", I thought to myself over and over until I began to realize that God was teaching me to pick out the seeds and save them because He wanted me to become a farmer! God wanted me to plant the seeds! He wants me to share the testimonies and to encourage others to grow healthy and mature into a ripe sweet melon with more seeds to plant.

Don't be frightened away by this! Believe me, I have seen plenty of people that only have had a few seeds in their melon, so the chances are good that you will not have to experience this like I have in my life. But one thing you will come to see in life is that the people who have been through the seeds and have a bag full of seeds to plant are going to be the fruitful ones! They are going to enjoy the blessings of producing more fruit!

Matthew 13:23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that hears the word, and understands it; which also bears fruit, and brings forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Are you holding a melon full of seeds and don't know what to do with it? Have you been chosen to carry the bag of seeds?

Have you been chosen by God to plant the seeds of testimony in the garden of life for all to enjoy and grow from? If so, you have received a blessing few have been chosen to experience! You have been given the wisdom and knowledge that cannot be found in college or online! You have been trusted by Christ Jesus with the responsibility of plucking out the seeds to plant while others spit the few seeds they have on the ground with little or no appreciation for what God had done! This produces no fruit at all! These seeds are plucked up by the birds and carried away!

Let's read what Jesus said to His disciples about the seed,

Mark 4:23 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
Mark 4:24 And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.
Mark 4:25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.
Mar 4:26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;
Mark 4:27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knows not how.

The adversities of life will fill your pouch with Seeds of Wisdom and give you the Knowledge and the Desire to Live for Christ. Plant the seeds of testimony in the barren lives of the world. They want to grow as you have and to taste of the heart of the melon too!

When you meet those in life who have become discouraged by the problems that they are going through; take the time to plant your seeds of encouragement and testimony to what you gained through the problems you have experienced and watch them grow!