Sharing And Personal Fruit

Sharing and Personal Fruit

At the grocery store entrance where selected sale items are displayed, I saw this sign: “Personal Watermelons $$299 ea.” Personal watermelons? What’s so personal about a watermelon?

The personal fruit beneath the sign was smaller than a regular melon—the ten-plus-pounders destined for happy picnics and summer backyard barbecues. Each personal watermelon was no bigger than a small cantaloupe, the obvious cue that personal meant “watermelon for one.”

But who eats a whole watermelon alone?

A watermelon is practically a party announcement in a shopping cart that takes something akin to a village to lug, balance, slice, and serve. And that’s the point. The invasion of the “personal” adjective in the produce aisle was new for me. Personal-sized fruit has apparently now joined single-entrée frozen meals, tiny one-serving cans of veggies, and single-packaged cuts of meat as a shopping-for-just-myself option. When did things not for sharing become so desirable?

The odd option of purchasing personal fruit served to remind me just how prevalent this culture of me has become and how comfortable I’ve become with it. I work on a personal computer (almost a redundancy now) and carry a personal collection of apps and music on my iPhone. (Funny, I never noticed the glaringly obvious i before.) I have nearly a dozen personal identification numbers swimming in my brain and just as many personal preferences registered hither, thither, and yon.

Because I live—and work—alone, I need to consciously resist the pull of the personal. I don’t need a personal watermelon; I need more reminders to share. Before Jesus surrendered his life once and for all, he shared it again and again—and so should I. So here’s my plan: I will not personalize what I might, with a little forethought and deliberation, share. At least once a week I will place something in my grocery cart that I can’t consume alone. I will look for new ways to share . . . not just produce, but the fruit of Jesus’ sweet life in me. Because we’re made for him and for each other . . . and we have Person-al love to give away.

Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Hebrews 13:16, NIV