Six Bushels

 

“I think it’s time,” I said.

Elaine looked at me quizzically.  “Time for what?”  She asked.

“Time to get some apples,” I replied.

Of course, we have apples in our house a lot.  Most grocery stores sell them and as long as you don’t purchase Red Delicious Apples – those masqueraders that look great but often are anything but crisp when you bite into them – you’ll probably be fine.

Typically, at the end of October or beginning of November we travel to an orchard and purchase apples by the bushel.  So it was that we made our way through the highways and byways of Nelson County to the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

I had made up my mind.  Six bushels is what we would buy.  Many for eating, but some for making apple sauce.  Four bushels of Pink Lady Apples and two bushels of Golden Delicious Apples is what we ended up taking home with us.

As we drove back, I thought about the meaning of this “pilgrimage.”  It took time and beyond that, the apples weren’t free.  I thought they were better than the ones at our local supermarket, but were they that much better that it was worth driving over an hour to get them?

Of course, humans invest their time and money in all sorts of things.  Some people spend their time getting good at playing video games, while others learn how to grow and make flower arrangements like a professional.  Most people spend a decent amount of time simply holding their nose to a grindstone for enough coins to keep their family out of the poorhouse.

Jesus talked about the things having the most value as being the “Kingdom of Heaven.”  “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45,46)

I am convinced that many of the things we invest our time, talents, and money in have little long-term value.  That doesn’t mean that it is wrong to do these things, but other things should have a higher priority for us.

The merchant in Jesus’ parable realized that all of the other things he owned were less valuable than this “pearl of great price.”  Once he discovered this, it was no pinch to sell them to gain something greater.

We would do well to consider this.  For there are things we can invest ourselves in that will hold their value even longer than six bushels of apples from the heart of Nelson County.