Because you are my helper,
….I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
….your strong right hand holds me securely. Psalm 63:7-8 NLT
John 8:33-47(<<click here to read the passage)
A while back I came across an article that talked about square watermelons. This is what Wikipedia had to say.
Square or cube watermelons are…grown into the shape of a cube. [They] are common in Japan, but are essentially ornamental and are often very expensive, with prices as high as $100.
They were intended to fit more compactly in fridges and be able to be cut more easily (without rolling). They were invented by graphic designer Tomoyuki Ono in 1978. He presented the watermelons in a gallery in Ginza, Tokyo.
…grown in boxes, [they] take the shape of the container… Although…created with practicality in mind, the cost now is prohibitive. The cube shape…can only be achieved at the expense of its contents. To retain the proper shape, [they] must be harvested before they are ripe, rendering them inedible.
They may look fun but that’s all they’re good for! I enjoy the refreshing fruit of a good watermelon on a hot summer’s day! They’re not meant to be something to look at but to eat!
In today’s passage, Jesus was talking to a wall. His listeners had already made up their minds about him and nothing He said or did made any difference. They weren’t going to change…but the Apostle John recorded His conversation so that his readers could learn from the words Jesus spoke.
As I read the end of verse 37 from the Amplified Bible, I, of course, thought of square watermelons! Yeah, I may be a bit looney but stay with me. First read that portion of the verse.
My word has no place [to grow] in you [and it makes no change in your heart]. v37b AMP
When a square watermelon is grown in its container, it cannot be what a watermelon was created to be. It’s restricted. It is literally stuffed into a box. It conforms to the box. It cannot grow any other way. It has no place to grow.
Every single person is created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Sin warps what we were created to be. It restricts our growth. By following the path on which sin sets us, the box it places us in, we conform to its distortion. We cannot grow any other way and God’s word has no place [to grow] in us.
If square watermelon could think, no matter how much they would want to be a real watermelon, they would not be able to. They cannot escape the confines of their container.
If we remain in sin, we cannot change who we are either. Only through Jesus’ grace and mercy can we break free of the confinement sin places upon our souls. Then and only then will His word be able to make a change in our hearts.
The devil, the perpetuator of sin, wants to keep us enslaved to sin. That’s how he molds and shapes, better yet, deforms us into whatever depraved state he desires.
Later in John 10:10, Jesus speaks of being the gateway to what He intends for us, as opposed to what the devil’s intentions are.
The thief [the devil] comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. Verse 10a AMP
Our challenge today is to allow Jesus to free us from the confines of sin, freeing us to have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]. Verse 10b AMP
Amen!
July 5th, 2021, Mon, 9:21 pm
