If Life's a Bowl of Cherries...

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:33-34

Cherries are one of my favorite foods, especially when they are fresh from the tree. Perhaps the bowl of fresh cherries on the kitchen counter made me think about the book If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits by the late humorist/author Erma Bombeck. The book takes a humorous look at the trials and tribulations of this thing we call life. I think the title of the book is a good analogy for the two possible perspectives we can have as we go about the business of being humans on this planet. 

“The pits” might as well represent the perspective the world seems to think we should have. This worldly perspective is filled with worry, fear, anger, disrespect and the devaluing of humanity. Don’t misunderstand me there are real problems in this world that need to be dealt with - missing girls in Nigeria, water borne diseases in third world countries, hunger and violence used as a problem solving tool everywhere. It seems to me that the world wants us to be hopeless, to think there is nothing we can do about the state of humanity and our planet.

“The bowl of cherries” represents a completely different perspective. This perspective, alluded to in this week’s passage acknowledges all of the short comings of life on this planet and still tells us not to worry. It implies that we don’t need to be fear filled, or overwhelmed by anger. We can be respectful of one another, place a high value on our own humanness and the humanness of others. This is the heavenly kingdom perspective. His kingdom perspective wants us to be hope filled, understanding that when we seek Him first above everything else He will not only provide us with what we need to live day to day, He will also grant us the wisdom and give us the resources we need to make real changes to the state of humanity and our planet.

What will it be this week - life in the pits or an abundant life with a bowl full of cherries? It’s your choice. You will find me in the bowl of cherries.

A Prayer
Father - thank you for knowing exactly what we need and standing ready to provide those things for us. Help us each day to seek You and Your kingdom first, so that we can live the abundant life, free from worry that You have planned for us. Help us to have a kingdom perspective of our lives, the lives of those around us and our planet. In the name of Jesus - Amen.