#ABushelAndAPeck

And a hug around the neck. I love you a bushel and a peck, the song goes on to say, and a hug around the neck. A bushel is a dry measurement equal to  four pecks and if it is full of apples or tomatoes or green beans, it can get pretty heavy. If it is filled with love, it can get pretty heavy. I had the brilliant idea one summer to be a pioneer woman and  to love my family by canning. I had to borrow the caner, so every minute had to be productive in order to get it back so she could use it. There were bushels of vegetables and the heavy caner I was lifting for a week and standing and preparing all day long and I wound up not only with many jars of jam and soup and pickles, but with such a pain in my back that I had to stay in bed for a week!

Those bushels held a lot of love over the winter after the jars they produced were emptied. A bushel is a useful implement for carrying a variety of things and I never ever considered turning one over and putting a lit candle under it. What on earth good would that do? That is the reason Jesus said that one mustn't do that. A light, to be useful is to be put on a table or lamp stand in order that the light may be seen. You certainly do not hide the light.

Each of, us as believers, has the Light of Life living inside of us. Each believer has been the recipient of at least one of gifts listed in the New Testament. There are lists of gifts found in First Corinthians 12 - 14 and Romans 12 - Wisdom, Knowledge, Preaching, Faith, Healings, Miracles, Discernment, Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues, Serving, Teaching, Encouragement, Giving, Leading, and Showing Mercy. These particular gifts are not natural or out of your own human nature, but they are spiritual and not just what you are inclined to be or do. They are super-natural and are given by God to you in order to build up others. Every time you use a gift you are letting the light shine and Jesus can be seen.

We are told not to with-hold any good we have. We are told to let our light shine that others might know Him. When we are presented with an opportunity to do or say 'good' and we with-hold it, we loose an opportunity to see God use it and not only others but ourselves are losers. It is up to us to identify the gift we have been given and develop it and use it. God chose at least one of those super-natural gifts for YOU and it wasn't indiscriminately given. It was a very special gift only you can use in the situation you are in.

A little advice - Have fun developing and using your gift.