MARBLE BERRY!

 ‘Marble Berry’ photo by Tim Harris CC BY 4.0.

Have you ever seen such a beautiful, shiny berry?  (See photo above). 
Actually, the marble berry, found in the forested regions of Africa, is ‘the brightest natural object in the world’!  (My Modern Net).  Its iridescent blue color is created from spirally stacked cellulose microfibers in the walls of its cells and not from pigment which degrades over time.  Hence, these berries maintain their intense iridescent color for decades!

But don’t be deceived!  These berries look like a juicy fruit, but have no nutritional value whatsoever.

Birds and animals are tricked into taking a bite of these berries and get a big surprise, a mouthful of hard seeds!  It’s not what they expected.  As one author put it, the Marble Berry plant spreads its seeds by ‘showing its true colors’.                                                   

This plant is the perfect metaphor for deception!  It reminds me of Eve’s apple.  God told her ‘not to eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden.’ Unfortunately, along comes that ‘crafty’ serpent who deceived her by making her question whether God actually said that.  His line was, ‘Did God really say?’  Apparently, she believed him and when Eve also ‘saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye’ …She took a big bite and gave some to her husband.  Genesis 3.  What they got was a mouthful of seeds! A colossal mistake that we are still paying for to this day!  This could have easily been avoided, if she would have obeyed God.  The trouble is, as the scripture says in Proverbs 14:12 NKJV, ‘There is a way that seems right to a man (or a woman), but its end is the way of death.’  It certainly was for Eve and her husband and all generations which followed.  Kicked out of the garden, they died spiritually, separated from God.  

God is still speaking today!  He has given you an owner’s manual, THE BIBLE, to help you make quality decisions and help you not to be deceived!  All the scriptures in the bible are ‘God-breathed and are useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’  2 Timothy 3:16-17.

In addition, ‘God’s divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.’  2Peter 1:3-4.

What’s the answer?  We are confident that God has given us everything we need to be able to hear His voice, make quality decisions and not be deceived, but you have to know what that is! That is why Timothy admonishes us to ‘Study to show yourself approved of God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth! 
2 Timothy 2:15. KJV.

REMEMBER THE MESSAGE OF THE MARBLE BERRY!