Have you ever made Nanking cherry jam? The little red berries grow in clumps on bushes in my yard and when they are ripe the work begins. The long, labor-intensive process starts with picking enough of the small fruit to make the juice for jam. Those cherries are precious. Then the cherries get rinsed, go through the food mill to remove the seeds and stems, get squeezed in cheese cloth, and go to a pot where they are boiled. By adding sugar and pectin, those cherries are now unrecognizable. They have been changed to jam!
It strikes me how much my life with Christ is like jam. Quite frankly, I am a labor-intensive project, and most would think the process of saving me too much work, but not God. Like the cherries in the jam, when God sees me through the veil of His Sonβs suffering and death, my sinful self is completely transformed. Humble service, like making jam, is also at times difficult. It isnβt about the one who serves or about the worthiness of the recipient, but about reflecting the love that God has shown us.Β
The Time is NOW to love others unconditionally and watch God make βjam.β
Nikki Tyrrell
Marketing Team Coordinator
