"Red Currant" - Image courtesy of AdamR / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Today’s post was contributed by my mom, Lorraine Strohbehn. On the last Friday of each month (most months), she shares a memory and a biblical principle with us. I think you’ll enjoy the real-life story—and the great lesson—from this month’s post: “Currants for the Picking.”

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Several years ago, a lovely neighbor of ours said she was not going to use her currants that year, because she still had jelly from the abundant crop the year before. She told us we could have them for the picking. The beautiful jelly they made would be a yummy treat for our young family, so there was no problem getting everyone to share in the Saturday morning picking of the currants.

Before we left for the neighbor’s house that morning, we realized we had some bushes just like them right by our own house, so one of our daughters remained there to pick them. Sometime later, the group that picked at our neighbor’s garden returned with tired backs and a bucket filled with the small currants. The daughter who picked beside our house had a full cup to add to the bucket.

I could hardly wait until we ate the noon meal and cleared away the dishes so that I could begin making my first batch of currant jelly. Because of the high pectin content of currants—in fact, I didn’t even have to add any gelling agent—it didn’t take long at all! Soon, the jelly glasses were filled, and the process was completed. Fortunately for the family, there was just enough left so that we could try the new jelly that evening for supper. That called for a batch of hot biscuits in repayment for all of our labor!

The evening meal began, and we passed the biscuits, butter, and new currant jelly. One by one, the reaction was the same: puzzled looks, then squinting eyes, then grimaces from each person, and then the awful pronouncement that it was not good—but bitter! Right away, I called the person who used to live in our house: “What are the beautiful red berries on the bushes beside the house? Are they currants?” The reply was what we feared. No, they weren’t currants, and what’s more, they were poisonous! I explained that we had only put a cupful into that big bucket and asked if the whole thing was spoiled. Her reply was that yes, it was all spoiled.

First Corinthians 5:6 (KJV) says, “…Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” We all learned a dynamic lesson that day about the effects of what we thought of as a “little” choice. This lesson is one we need to remember on a daily basis when making choices. Will that “little decision” be consistent with what we want our lives to be or will it bring a stain (or even a drop of poison) to our testimonies for the Lord? It was only one little cup of poisonous berries in a whole bucket of good ones…but it spoiled the entire amount. Make wise choices today—even in the little things!

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Related posts contributed by Lorraine Strohbehn:

Saturdays, Scrub Brushes, and Sopranos

My One-Room School

Blessings at Brunch