Lessons from avocado toast

I've recently gotten hooked on avocado toast.  I know, it did not sound appetizing to me, either, until I tried it.  There are many variations (you can check out a few here), but I like the basic recipe:

• Get a piece of good bread, an avocado, sea salt, and lemon juice.  
• Toast your bread.
• Smear some avocado on it, squirt a bit of lemon juice, and sprinkle with sea salt.  
• Enjoy!

So this morning I went to make my toast and found that the avocado half I'd saved with some lemon and plastic wrap over the top had turned brown.  I must not have gotten a tight seal on it.  (For more on saving your avocados, just Google it - "tried and true" methods abound!)  At first, I was disappointed.  Then I grabbed a spoon and scraped at the discolored surface.  What did I find?  Beautiful, bright green flesh just waiting to top some toast!  Hooray!  Breakfast was saved!

You know, I think we are like this avocado in some ways. We are bumpy on the outside, we've been a little tainted by our exposure to people/places/things, we might even have a giant pit that is squeezing the softness of our insides.  On the surface, our lives may appear to be ruined, or at the very least, we are not useful to God or to anyone.  I don't know about you, but I have some places in my heart and mind that don't feel very useable!  But just as I scooped down into the avocado with hope, Jesus digs beyond the things that might cause us to cast ourselves aside because He knows there's something bright and beautiful underneath.  He does not allow us to just look at our flaws, He challenges us to go a little deeper with Him to find the hidden delicacy of who He made us to be.

When sins or poor attitudes rise to the surface, Jesus carefully and lovingly scrapes them away to reveal goodness and righteousness.

When our minds and hearts are covered with a dark layer of pain or disappointment, He scoops out the damaged fragments and allows us to be exposed to His love and comfort.

Jesus loves us too much to allow us to stay the same.  He does not give up or toss us in the trash like an old piece of fruit.  He pokes around, peeling back bumpy layers and pulling out pits and digging until He finds that lovely heart of flesh within us...the heart that He wants to mold and to be completely His.

The next time you are tempted to turn up your nose at the discolored pieces of your life, take a closer look.  You and Jesus just might need to grab a spoon.