Little pale green fruits, blotched with grainy tans hang quietly, waiting. Raiding squirrels, burrowing bugs and eager, climbing, grasping children have come and gone. These pears remain, swaying gently as blessings from a generous Father. I look up. I pull down. There are more than we can eat. They are full of good sweet flesh. They come in different sizes, shapes and shades. They grow in clusters and alone. They hang low and they fly high. Some I can reach with my hand. For some I leap. For others I extend my fruit-picker with grasping tines and wire basket. I look up. I pull down.
Why do I have so much joy in such a simple moment? I am living as the image of God. I receive the pears as a gift from God. I bless Him with little songs from my heart. I hear my children playing in the yard and think of my wife preparing our meal in the kitchen. These pears I pick will bless them. I labor with my hands, gathering the fruit. We will cook these pears, process them, can them and store them to be eaten over the next year. We will share them with others and thank God for them before we eat. Loving God Supremely, Loving Others Rightly, Stewarding the Creation Responsibly, I look up. I pull down.
Picking Pears makes me reflect on the Scriptures. Picking Pears makes me think of my Savior, Jesus Christ. In Christ are all the riches of God’s wisdom and knowledge. Christ has won every blessing of God through His obedience unto the Cross. In His supremacy I find my sufficiency. I’m picking pears, but I’m looking up and pulling down. Christ is at the right hand of the Father. All my good is up there, with Him, as I am hid with Christ in God. The true life, the abundant joy of Christ is offered to me. Will I abide with Him? Will I follow Him? I find the same joy as I sit with my Bible and journal. As I gaze at Christ in His word, I look up. I pull down. All this good is for God’s glory. What I receive from Christ is not for me. It is for God’s glory as I worship and praise. It is for my wife, my children, my fellow believers, my neighbors. It is for the re-purposing of all I possess to make Christ known. God’s goodness is mediated through me that God’s glory is manifested in me, the image of God. I look up. I pull down.
