Thumping Watermelons and Hearts

Go with me for a moment into the heat of summer ( won't that be a nice diversion from all this cold weather?) :-) There's nothing better than a tall glass of cold sweet tea on a hot summers day, unless of course it is a ripe juicy watermelon! Remember from a kids perspective of eating watermelon? You'd bite into that red fruit and the juice would run down the corners of your mouth and you'd wipe it with the back of your shirt sleeve... ahh the joys of summer!

As a kid you probably didn't think much about the "how" of picking a watermelon- unless you grew your own and got to go thump them in the field for yourself. You see there is an art to picking an watermelon. You thump on that dark green striped outer skin and you listen very closely. (I did this last summer in a grocery store and a guy standing nearby asked me if anybody was home!) Anyway back to my illustration. You are listening for a corresponding "thunk" coming from inside that melon. When you hear that pleasing, half hollow "thunk" sound, you know you have a nicely ripe melon and you begin to anticipate having fellowship with it and your spoon!

Likewise, there is someone thumping on your outer shell too. Scripture tells us, "I am now standing at the door and am knocking. (Thump thump) If any one listens to My voice and opens the door, (corresponding thunk) I will go in to be with him and will feast with him, and he shall feast with Me." Jesus is looking for hearts that are ripe. Hearts that have made room for the Glory. Hearts that have allowed change to happen. A watermelon must stay connected to the vine until it is ready for picking. We must always stay connected to the vine also, so that there will be a fresh supply of "juice" to make our heart tender and fertile and ready to be plucked and tasted by those around us, so they can taste the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives and be drawn to Christ.

Likewise, Jesus wants to come in and have fellowship with us personally. Consider: Song of Sol. 4:12-16 A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.

Will He find pleasant fruits to taste when He knocks? Will He find that well of Living Waters that comes from a life surrendered to the Holy Spirit?

Even as the Shulamite woman cried out on behalf of her lover, may we cry out on behalf of ours: Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.

Oh Holy Spirit, come let your winds blow. Bring the wind of repentance and the wind of revival. Come with the wind of Consecration and sweet surrender. Blow upon my garden, that the giftings and the blessings that You have already bestowed upon me, may flow in greater measure. Let MY Beloved come into His garden. I take the limits off. I remove every barrier, every hindrance that would come between me and You Lord. Enclose me in the secret place with only You. Hide me away from the distractions and the things that would block the flow of my well. Come my Bridegroom and taste of the fruit of Your Labor in my life and be thou satisfied.

And I heard the Father say: (speaking 1st to me- but then more broadly to all who are seeking Him as well)

I am well pleased daughter in your desire for My Son. I am making all things ready for that Great Day. For Our hearts grow weary of only visiting... His heart yearns for the marriage to be consummated and so it shall! Continue to prepare yourself and be at peace, knowing how much you are loved and cherished and desired. We take great delight in our time we spend with you. Thank you for each time you hear and respond to the knock upon your heart. In opening, you are changed, you are expanded, and the place of our dwelling together is enlarged. Do not think it is for nought, for much is accomplished and shared as we linger together you and I and My Son. For I am watching over My Word to perform it and when you meet together with My Son, I am there watching over you and delighting in you.