Strawberry Fields

It’s like looking for hidden treasure. I stoop down to pull the leaves aside, and there are bright red berries. I pick one, and eat it right there, a juicy, sweet, tart treat on a hot June day. I pick another and drop it into the cardboard tote tray in front of me. Bending between two rows , I pick first from the right and then from the left side. Slide the tote ahead and repeat. The pile of bounty grows until my back says it’s time to quit.

Picking up the now full tote, I trudge back up the hill to the pay station. My haul today is just short of nine pounds, costing me $17.50. Worth every penny! My wife has promised a strawberry pie for dessert tomorrow when relatives are coming for a visit.

When I arrived home with my precious cargo, my wife immediately tasted one, then she made strawberry malts for us; fresh berries, real ice cream, real milk and a touch of malt powder. What a reward for my effort!

When God created the garden in Eden, He provided for His people fruit, ripe for the picking everywhere they looked. No labor, just pick and eat from the plentiful supply; fruit of every shape, size, and color, good for nutrition and good for the soul.

These strawberries are proof that God is still good, that He provides good things for all people to enjoy (though now we have to work to grow it because of sin). God’s treasures are everywhere if we’ll take the time to see them, appreciate them, and give Him thanks.

“And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.”

Genesis 1:29 (ESV)