We have a baby bunny that can fit in the palm of my hand. She’s a great pet. She costs nothing, requires little care, and gives us joy every day – she lives in our back yard!
The other day Kristi put out a peach from our tree for the bunny. The bunny was munching away on our green grass as usual until she caught a whiff of the fresh peach! She made her way over to the peach, which was just in front of our sliding glass door where we were watching. She put her nose on the peach and smiled. She looked all around her to make sure there were no hawks or cats. And then she took a bite!
Oh! How tasty! Much better than grass! With obvious delight the bunny ate up the peach until all that was left was the pit. And she licked her hands to get the last bits of juice. Then with her stomach totally full of sweetness she stretched out on our sun-warmed concrete patio and smiled, “Ahhhh!”
God Often Speaks in Parables
Suddenly I realized that God had given me a parable! He was using this story of the little bunny and the big peace to teach me a great spiritual truth.
Jesus often spoke in parables that got people’s attention and invited them to come closer. People flocked to listen to Jesus stories, delighting in how simple and engaging and they were, but not many people tried to understand the deeper spiritual meanings in his story. Thousands of people were inspired or healed by Jesus, but perhaps only about a hundred followed him as his disciples.
The Lord gives us many parables in the course of daily life. Do we stop to listen to what God is saying? Do we ask Jesus questions about the deeper meaning and application for our lives?
Taste and See that the Lord is Good!
As I was thinking about the baby bunny eating the peach I remembered the prayer of the Psalmist: “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8). I was inspired to savor God’s sweetness like the bunny savored the peach. I sensed the Holy Spirit whispering to my heart in the “still, small voice” (1 Kings 19:12). I stopped to listen:
Will you delight in me like the bunny delighted in the peach? When you savor the sweetness of my Word to you and my Spirit in you like the bunny thrilled over the peach then you will be filled with my love, joy, and peace.
But sometimes you’re so busy grazing on grass that you don’t even see the peach of my presence in your midst. Other times you’re so worried about hawks or cats that you miss out on eating the peach that I set out for you.
Relax! I’m watching over you. And I give myself to you. Hop over to me. Taste and see that I am good!
I replied to the Lord:
Yes, Lord, I want to be as the little bunny – trusting your protective care, free to play and explore, observant to discover the gift of your grace, delighting in your deliciousness. As the bunny was captivated by the peach may I be captivated by you, O Christ! Fill my thoughts. Be my one desire.
Oh, that I’d be as the man you talked about Jesus: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field” (Matthew 13:33).
Jesus, knowing you as my King is the treasure of life! And the field that you are buried in is my life – what joy it is to discover you all around me, even within my own heart! I give up everything for the treasure that you are to me! I give up doing things for myself. I give up doing things in my own strength. I seek your kingdom first and only.
In all that I do today – as I type these words, as I eat lunch with my son in a few minutes, as I clean the kitchen, as I do my work for today, as I greet Kristi and our girls when they return from Marci’s baby shower, as I take pictures of David and his date before prom, as I enjoy dinner and the evening with Kristi, as I pray from the Psalms – may I delight in you with me.
Jesus, you are the peach that pleases me!
What a joy it is to taste and see that the Lord is good! To discover that Jesus is the peach that pleases!
