I reached deep into our lemon tree to grab the biggest lemon, nestled close to the trunk. It was shaded by leaves. Protected by thorns. I pulled that huge lemon off of the branch with ease. It was ready to come off. It was bigger than all the rest because it had been protected, unbothered, resting on that vine, growing to maturity. And then I got to enjoy its maturity, squeezed into my water. All of that growth and just for my water. How lovely:)
It reminded me of a verse in Colossians 3 that says “Your real life is hidden with Christ in God.”
I love the idea of being hidden with Christ. Sometimes the thought of hiding away feels comfortable to me. Hidden away from troubles, worries, concerns, stressors. But I’d mostly thought of that as something that is weak or lazy. Here, we are seeing that that hiding is actually what God desires for us. Our real life is hidden with him.
I think of it as a walking with. A covering over. A life with no concerns because I trust the one who is sheltering, hiding, protecting me. It’s not that circumstances aren’t difficult. They are. Consider my lemon. Birds, bugs, bees. All have their shot at this tree. But the leaves and thorns protect the fruit. So too, we can rest in our real life with Christ in God. That is available to all of us but we have to come and rest. A life of rest is available to each of us in every moment, no matter what we are actually doing. A soul at rest is God’s vision for each of us—our real life, hidden with him.
That lemon. It was huge. It was sheltered and protected. It wasn’t on the edges for all to see, shouting to the world, “I’m on the lemon tree! Pick me!!” It nestled in and grew under the covering. And it was the biggest, most beautiful of all.
— Kerry D
