When I woke up this morning, I could only think about how good garden-fresh foods are to the taste buds. For dinner last evening, the fresh kale mixed with mustard greens were delicious. Sadly, when we go to the grocery store or even to some of the farmer’s markets, they advertise fresh vegetables but beware. The only way we can be assured that vegetables and other foods are fresh is to be there to pick/harvest them out of the garden or fields ourselves or to observe someone else pick them for us. Fresh vegetables and foods advertised in grocery stores must be shipped in some cases from great distances. By the time they arrive to us, the aging process has long started. Sometimes the vegetables look fresh, but when you prepare to cook them, they are tough and smelly. This does not hold true in all cases, but there is a difference in the quality.

Next spring, take time and plant a couple of tomato plants, cucumbers, squash, or some other easy growing plants in your flower bed. If you do not have a flower bed, find a couple of flower pots and get busy, for spring is not as far off as we think.       

Some restaurants even advertise fresh meats, but the aging process has already begun by the time they arrive to us. If you want a delicious steak or hamburger, you must go to the processing plant on the same day the meat is being cut up and packaged. Too often these animals have been given steroids to speed up the growth process. Now, that has nothing to do with the aging process, only the rapidity of the animal’s growth. Please know that I am not trying to convince you not to eat these foods, rather to simply say, “Fresh is better!” It is also good to know where your products have been shipped from. If they come from China or some other country, then expect the product to taste different. If you have not experienced eating fresh food, then it is possible you will not notice the difference in fresh and old.

Again, fresh is always better. If you are married or romantically involved with someone, my advice to you is to keep that relationship fresh. It is imperative that we keep those romantic fires burning, even if we have been married for decades. Can you recall when you first began the relationship and everything was wonderful. As time went by, some of those wonders became boredom. In other words, keep the spark alive in your relationship. Continue to be attentive to the little things that means so much to our partner.

There is a time when fresh is not used in a positive light. I can recall hearing women speak about fresh old men. These are elderly men who attempt to influence younger women by using their charm. On the other hand, there are some cougars out there also. Usually, these women are tired of unromantic and narrow-minded men their own age.

Just like fresh foods are a delight, keeping our personal relationships fresh can also be a delight. It is important that we do the same spiritually. It is of utmost importance that we keep our relationship with God fresh and vital. I would imagine that during the pandemic some have drifted away from God rather than growing closer to Him. It is important that we strive to always establish a deeper and stronger relationship with God. We must keep the spiritual fire burning.

If we are going to keep our relationship with God fresh and vital, we must spend more time with Him. Listed below are ways we can keep it fresh:

• Keep the communication between you and God open. Prayer will strengthen our faith and cause us to rely on Him more.
• Worship is when we just open our hearts to God, be it in the car, in the home, etc. Listen to music that speaks to your heart and is a praise to God.
• If we are going to have a relationship with God, we must first get to know Him. We get to know Him by studying His Word.
• Service to others is what God requires of us. We know that Jesus said he had come to serve and not be served.

If we are going to grow in Christ, we must do as Luke 10:27 suggests: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.”  

Love is what binds us to God and to others. Let us continue to love even our enemies. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.”  Lamentations 3: 22-23 

Not a sermon, just my thoughts!

Robert Earl Slade, Pastor