I don’t know much about peanuts but I do enjoy them…especially the ones in the shell. I’m always reminded of my Christmas stocking for there was always an orange and peanuts in it.
Peanuts have not only a shell but a skin that has to be removed. You can try to eat the skins but they always stick in my throat.
But crack the shell, slip off the skin and there they are, not only good for you but delicious too.
I can envision God standing over this “bowl of peanuts,” his human creation, breaking the shell of our obstinacy, sloughing off the skin of our sins and seeing what’s really inside…what he had always planned for us to be.
Then in his wisdom he uses us…some become peanut butter…being spread across the world to spread his Word. Others are chopped up, added to parts of life to flavor and enrich it. Some are loners…their whole being filled with love and nourishment, to be enjoyed one at a time.
A few have a sprinkle of salt added…these are those who add that dash of spirit and laughter in our lives.
Sometimes we affectionately called our small children “peanuts”…we have so much hope for their future and we love the special skins they are wrapped in and we shower them with hugs and kisses. We see them as babies now, but know that they too will one day “put aside childish things” and become the fulfillment of God’s plan for them.
Peanuts are useless unless the shell is broken and the skin discarded. It is not easy having your shell of self-righteousness broken, nor your skin of selfishness removed but with the Lord’s help, we too can be nutritious and food for others in their search for the saving power of God.
