The Parable of the Three Apples

Three young boys were walking down the tracks through Pottersville. They were up to no good; and for that matter, they weren't up to no bad either. They were just out for a walk, enjoying the warmth of the fall sun and kicking the leaves beside the tracks. As they came to Main Street, a well dressed man in a shiny black Ford stopped and gave them each an apple. The apples looked great--polished to a high gloss, large and red.

As the boys walked down the tracks towards Maple Street, they began to discuss the apples in their h ands. Why had the man stopped and given them apples? Why did he choose them? After all, there were many kids in the park just a block away. Should they eat them now, or wait till after supper?

One of the boys abruptly announced that he thought the man was a spy, a crook, or some other evil person. How else would you explain the shiny black car? He concluded tat the apples were poisoned and should be thrown away. He threw his as far as he could into the river. Having done that, he decided to go home, for he was suddenly very hungry.

As the two remaining boys walkded along, they chuckled at the imagination of their friend. "He's been watching too much TV." Having laughed about their friend, one said to the other, "I'm sure this apple is good to eat, but I want to save it for a day when I have a great need for an apple." He left to go home and hide it in his closet and went out to play in his tree fort. (The next spring, his mother found it when she was looking for the source of a "funny smell" in his room).

The third boy took a bite out of his apple, and his eyes lit up. "Boy, this is a good apple!" he exclaimed. He went on down the tracks with renewed energy if not purpose.

"So what?" you might think, "What are you trying to say preacher?"

I'm glad you asked (I hope you asked). The three boys' responses to the gift of an apple closely parallel the three responses I see when I try to share the gift of God's love.

With many people, when I tell them of Jesus' love for them and his desire for them to actually meet him and know him personally, they look at me as though they think my motives are suspect, or I'm crazy, or both. They take that gift of God's love and throw it as far as they can into the river of life's choices. Then they go off seeking something to fill the awful hunger they feel deep inside.

Another large group of people accept the gift of God's love very readily, but they don't take time to unwrap that gift right then. They try to put Jesus into a safe corner of their life until they are through getting all the gusto they can. If they remember to come looking for him, they sadly discover that, like the apple was a source of energy that lost its effectiveness on the closet shelf, the gift of God's love is effective only when it is received and applied to that deep down hunger.

Others, a very small group, I'm sad to say, accept the gift of God's love complete with its life-changing, hunger-filling power. They move from little thought regarding the existence of God to a personal relationship with the One who empowers their lives. Unlike a simple apple, the gift of God's love gives purpose to life along with its energy!