J A M !!

     I'm really in a jam; could you help me out?  This little word of only three letters has several different meanings.  It could mean to crowd or squeeze into a close or tight position.  It could mean to crush or bruise (I jammed my toe)!  It could also mean to be wedged or fixed so as to be unworkable.  It could even mean participating in a jam session.
     But the Jam I like is yummy and sweet -- it is fruit boiled with sugar to a thick consistency, without preserving the shape of the fruit.

     I think there are several things about Jam we could apply spiritually.  First of all, Jam is quite sticky!  When you apply it to a piece of bread, it sticks to it.  God is interested that we apply His Holy Word to our heart and mind and let it stick there!  "Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee." Psalm 119:11

     A special thing I really like about Jam is its color, beauty, and variety.  There's strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, apricot, peach, raspberry, boysenberry and more!  A wonderful variety -- all different, but each one beautiful to behold in their shining jars.  We are all different, too.  Each of us are unique in our different colors of personality!  Our bodies are the jars which display the fruit within.  I pray that the fruit shown in our everyday living will always be beautiful to the world who is looking on and examining the fruit we show forth from day to day.

     I also think about fruit that has spoiled.  The prophet Jeremiah spoke about figs that were so bad they could not be eaten.  Spoiled fruit is good for nothing:  it looks bad; it smells bad; no one even likes to be close to it -- it has to be thrown out and destroyed.  Let us be careful to keep a close watch on the fruit we are exhibiting in our lives, giving the proper care through prayer, Bible study and obedience to God.

     And the VERY BEST thing about Jam is that it is so sweet!  It just sweetens up everything it touches!  It makes the toast taste better, and the biscuits, and a little taste from the jar every so often just brings delight and sweetens us up from head to toe!  Isn't this the way we should be when we know Jesus!!  In the 133rd Psalm, it talks about the precious ointment poured on Aaron's head that ran down upon his beard and on down to the skirts of his garments.  I love the word picture -- this precious ointment seemed to cover his entire being!
How wonderful to be completely surrendered to God, cleansed and made holy, so that the precious ointment of the blessed Holy Spirit can flow through us and out into a sin-cursed world that needs to see the beauty of Jesus!
Let's eat lots of spiritual Jam, so that Jesus can make us sweeter and sweeter and use us to help others "taste and see that the Lord is Good!"  And as spiritual Jam flows from our hearts, may this little chorus be on our lips:
     "Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me -- all His wonderful passion and purity.
      Oh, Thou Spirit Divine, all my being refine -- 'Til the beauty of Jesus be seen in me."