Apples - This Side of Heaven

"Don't drop it, be careful, you'll bruise it!" mom said to her little boy while they were grocery shopping. He had picked up a bright, red apple from the display and was carelessly tossing it from one hand to the other. "Mom", he said with a curious look on his face, "will it say "Ouch!" if I drop it too?"

Psalm 17:8 says, "Keep me as the apple of the eye..."

While it's not actually talking about a Red Delicious or Granny Smith apple, it is talking about the pupil, the round, dark center of an eye, which is actually a hole in the eye. God went to great lengths to help us protect our pupils by giving us eyelids, eyelashes, etc. - it's safe to say the pupil is very well protected.

We also refer to someone very special to us, someone close to our heart, as the apple of our eye. Maybe you're thinking of that special someone right now as you read this. What would you do for them? To what lengths would you go to make sure they are cared for properly? How would you feel if you knew they were hurting? You know, what if they were bruised?

Now, think about this: God cares for us even more than we do that special person. We may sometimes wonder how that's even possible, but it's true. God is just amazing that way. He loves us so much that He was bruised for us. He was wounded, mocked, ridiculed, and even died for our well-being. You see? We truly are the apple of His eye. 

There will, however, be "ouch" moments in this lifetime. It's hard work to exercise our faith during these times, but every detail of our life is carefully watched and monitored.  While we may go through trials, God does not allow us to go through anything He's not aware of. Somehow He always makes something good out of every bad situation. He holds us safely in the palm of His hand. He feels our pain, cries with us, bandages our wounds and cares for us beyond our wildest imaginations. He promises we won't always be bruised; one day we'll be transformed into a Golden Apple in His display case and that's not just a fairy tale. That's God's ultimate plan for us!

In the meantime, He will always go to great lengths to protect us and will always keep us close to His heart. Sure, the little boy's statement might be a bit comical, but the truth is: we all bruise and we say "Ouch!" too...on this side of Heaven.