Do you eat blackberries from vines of thorns, and strawberries of vines without thorns, but perhaps a few thistles, yet both vines have good fruit, only one has evil thorns. The word of God is like blackberry bush, made of thorns and good fruit. To eat good fruit off the blackberry bush one has to remember not to get stuck a few dozen times to avoid the thorns to get the blackberries. Tasting the first blackberries of the season one would either taste sour or sweet depending on their ripeness. The sour taste would set one’s teeth on edge where the sweet blackberries would have one desiring for more despite the common sense of being stuck by a thorn.

In God’s kingdom to eat the fruit of life is to pick fruit of the Holy Spirit, despite the thorns that grow with the fruit. See to be pricked by God can lead to the way of destruction or the way of life, depending on one’s response to God. Imagine going to a beach and being told you need to find a place to build a house. This house has to last a year at the most and survive terrible storms and weather that will come from the winds of the sea. One can dig a few holes and put some pylons in the sand so many feet deep but no guarantees it will stand once the tide, wind and waves crashing upon it during a storm. The house is built upon a rock platform high above the sand and waves. It structure built with the flooring frame anchored to the rock. Even with the heavy winds and rain the structure is solid and is not going to be moved. Even if water reaches the stone, it will not move the primary structure of the house.

In life it is not unusual to loose a shingle or a piece of siding from the house in a wind storm, but the structure if built must rest on a solid foundation and anchored to that stone for something to remain even if it goes through a storm. The foundation being Christ and one being anchored to the rock even If God decides to send a wind storm to purge the structure of the house, there is nothing that will replace the foundation, yet might replace a few windows, siding and so forth. The house on the sand has no anchor hold, it even may be washed out to sea in the storm. It might survive for a while without being anchored to a rock, but it will not last floating out to sea. The sandy beach is a nice place to run and play on, yet whether it be sunny or raining one will seek shelter from the elements. Yet while on the sand with a towel it seems so comfortable, even molding to the place one sits or lays. Yet the rock might be difficult to sit upon when one is in pain of guilt, it is solid and any structure built upon will with stand the elements even if only in a storm leaving a foundation.

The outward decoration of the house on both the sand and the rock are often easily torn away, yet the a rock structure from the ground up, is solid all the way. Dressed by stones of love, joy, peace, hope and longsuffering it will and can not fail, built on the foundation of Christ death and resurrection and fruit of the Spirit.

If I built on the life of Moses or Abraham I find those sidings of human fraility, that will be easily torn away from the stones of faith and built on grace and mercy found through Jesus Christ. One’s humanity being those sinful lust and desires of the world that has no place in the structure of love and faith in Christ Jesus. The marriage bed undefiled by only the desires of one’s own spouse. The thorns that grow from the word of God is based on disobedience to God’s word, but the fruit that the vine produces is produced and preserved for jams and jellies and are fruit based on belief in and obedience to God and Christ Jesus.

God produces two things evil and good, depending on our response to His word. The warning of evil lurks are not meant for people to rebel, but to bring fruit of obedience by picking only the fruit of God. The thorn is only to state the effect and cause of evil intent. Yet man in his wisdom only says God did not say and God said do not do, but my choice is that seems not so bad either way, leaving our response to whatever feels good must be good, which is not a solid foundation.

Many obey God but love not God and built on the sinking sand. Produce thorns and thistle of the vine that have no value once the harvest has begun, but to torment the fruit pickers until the picking is done. The vines raked together to be burned, for the vines not surviving but at the root through the winter months. The roots being buried from the harsh elements of the world only to bring forth life in the spring to fight through another season. Despite fire, grasshoppers and things that go bump in the night, the vine ability to grows continues because of it roots.

As flower shops make rose bouquet only cutting away the thorns, to keep one’s fingers safe from ouchies, so one must cut away at scripture what is of man and what is of God. And build upon only those things of obedience to and promises of God. Building one’s relationship on the solid points of faith in God and avoid the thorns by only grabbing hold of the fruit of the word of God. A fruit meant for reproduction through faith in Christ Jesus. You can not produce love if you still trying to be pricked by the thorns of life. Allow the fruit to grow, but cut off and avoid the thorns meant for destruction. Be a follower of Christ and build on the solid foundation to produce fruit of faith.

Dear Heavenly Father thank you for enable us to pick the fruit without being stuck by the thorns of life that lead only to destruction if one does believe and obeys Jesus. In Jesus precious name, Amen.