I know of no other apple as delicious as a Pink Lady. They aren’t locally grown in my region of Canada, and I usually have to buy them from one of the superstores in the United States. All week long I had been enjoying them, and I had saved my last one for our trip. I knew it would be the perfect fruit for our lunch the first day of our vacation.
Now I watched with horror as the US customs officer put on a pair of gloves to gingerly remove my precious, carefully-washed Pink Lady apple from my cooler and deposit it, along with my husband’s Golden Delicious apple, two beautiful Florida oranges, and my bag of cut-up peppers into a plastic bag. I shook my head sadly, but I said to myself, “Maybe some poor family will be able to enjoy our produce!” My horror multiplied, however, when the customs officer proceeded to the nearest trash bin and unceremoniously dumped my fruit and vegetables…
“She just threw away my Pink Lady apple!” I wailed to my poor husband. “She just took the very best apple in the entire world and dumped it in the trash!”
But there was nothing to be done, and in all reality, it was my own fault. You see, I knew the potential risks of losing my fresh fruit and vegetables at the US/Canadian border, for it wasn’t the first time our fruit had been confiscated by US customs officers. In fact, it was for this reason that I had them stored in the cooler in the van instead of in the refrigerator of the tent trailer.
So knowing what I did, why had I taken such a risk with my absolute favorite apple in the world?
Simply put, the US/Canadian border where we usually crossed tends to turn a blind eye to the fruit I so often bring over. I just assumed they no longer cared about fresh fruit and vegetables! Besides, in the past they had only confiscated my citrus fruit. I figured apples were safe!
It all reminds me of one of my mother’s old sayings: Be sure your sins will find you out.
I never really understood that expression. Until now, that is. Thanks to the customs officer who threw out my Pink Lady apple, I get it. You see, we can go through life hiding our pet sins. We can even be open and above board about them, for most of us are so engrained in our “tolerate above all else” and our “don’t judge” mentalities that we turn a blind eye to the pet sins of others. And so, we continue to carry them around. After all, if my fellow church members don’t care that I continue to do ________, then why should I worry about it? Those pet sins aren’t as innocent as they look, however. They corrupt us on the inside, and they ruin our relationship with God. Just like I shouldn’t have even tried to bring fresh fruit and vegetables into the US, we should all be seeking God’s help at ridding ourselves of our secret sins.
Friends, instead of continuing to carry our “Pink Lady apples,” why not join me in David’s prayer?
“Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.” (Ps 19:12-14, NKJV)
With this prayer in our hearts, we can be assured that we won’t even try to hold on to our pet sins!
Oh, and when we stopped the next day at a superstore in the US, I was able to find Pink Lady apples!
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two, Author — “Aboard God’s Train — A Journey With God Through the Valley of Cancer”, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, with Answers2Prayer Ministries. Follow Lyn on Twitter @lynchaffart.