Prunes & Plums

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I think the Lord prefers prunes to plums. A plum, of course, is fat and juicy and pleasant to the eye. It is full of itself, and although it bruises easily it is very tasty to the tongue. Yes indeed, a plum is something to behold – in many ways a thing of beauty. I must admit, I have seen paintings of plums but none of prunes.

Now a prune is dried out and shriveled up, certainly not fat and juicy like a plum. It’s not very pretty, and no housewife would make a kitchen display of prunes. But then a prune doesn’t bruise and all the self has been squeezed out of it. A plum might be fat and juicy, but a prune has the distilled essence of the qualities that produce the best of a tangy taste.

Christians I think are much like plums and prunes. There are those who are fat and sassy, as it were, filled with self and the wonder their own splendor and importance. They certainly are good to look at, and they make wonderful window displays, but they lack the distilled essence of the qualities that make for the taste of life. A prune is a plum which has had self squeezed out and replaced with the real essentials of life.

A plum must be handled very carefully and stored just so. It takes some pampering or it loses its appeal. Now a prune can be thrown here and there. It can be battered and bruised, but no matter how you handle it, is never looses its quality of sweetness. Yes, I do believe that God prefers prunes to plums.