Cherished Vegetables

Yes, I do love vegetables and could probably enjoy a vegetarian lifestyle if I wanted, but I don’t really “cherish” most vegetables! I actually have two things on my mind and they made for a fun title when put together! The first thing is being cherished. As far as I know, most everyone likes to be cherished in some way. That probably looks different to different people, but we all want to be loved. And I have really great news!!! You are loved! We have a perfect Father in heaven who loves us so much that He chose to give Himself up for us! But so many people “know” that part of the story. The message I want people to get is that this God loves every part of you! Specifically, He loves even your past. I have known those who call Christ their Lord, yet they deny their past. As my husband put it in a recent conversation, it’s as if the person likes themselves from a particular point in life forward and tries to forget everything from before that moment. They put away all reminders of who they were before whatever the circumstance is. For some it might be salvation, for others graduation or a wedding, and for others it might not be a big event, but just a moment when they decided to take a new path. Paul encourages believers to leave the past behind.

that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus…

Philippians 3:11-14

So I’m not saying that we should hold onto our past and mull over it or talk about it again and again. But when we try to hide the past and ignore it, we are letting it hold us in bondage. Living this way shows that we don’t yet believe God’s perfect love for us!

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35-39

Nothing can separate us from His love! More than that, the past is part of what made you who you are now, so withholding that from Him means that you aren’t letting Him love you in entirety! He already knows it all and He loves you anyway! Whatever it is that you’re holding tight inside, hoping no one else will learn about is keeping you from completely enjoying His love. If you can’t stand to see a reminder of something, consider why. Are you harboring unforgiveness or bitterness? Perhaps because you don’t know the depth of His forgiveness and love? I truly believe that God cherishes me. I am precious to Him — even above rubies! He who owns the cattle on a thousand hills loves me (and you) so deeply that He gave up everything so that we could be with Him! Whatever it is that you’re hoping to keep hidden, to avoid for all time, give it to Him. Let Him carry it. Let Him use it for your good and His great glory!

The other thing on my mind is vegetables. Not just any vegetables, but the cute and annoying ones by Big Idea Productions. I loved these guys in college. I tried for years to get my boys to watch the VeggieTales, but they didn’t like them! All of a sudden, both boys love the VeggieTales. So today I downloaded their album, Hosanna! While in the car, I played it. Both boys really loved it. Ryan named every voice that he heard as he listened! When the vegetables sang Chris Tomlin’s Our God, Alex knew most of the words, so he joined in. That made me smile. But a little later, Hosanna came on. Alex joined in at the top of his lungs. I got teary-eyed! It was so sweet! He sang several of the other songs, too. Ryan will likely sing them later — when he is really confident that he knows them. He can’t stand to have people hear him if he isn’t completely confident that he knows the song! The veggies have two other worship albums, that I may have to invest in sometime soon!