When Life Gives You Lemons!

When Life Gives You Lemons:

We have all heard the saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” This is one of the most motivating sayings about not being content with what life throws at you, but rather turn it into something new. As Christians we have to do this daily. The world we live in is full of people who are lemons, or people who are lost and do not yet know about what their true potential is. The commission of Christ was for us to go out and find those people, show them their potential, train them up, and send them out to do the same. (Matthew 28:16-20) The image of real transformation when a lemon becomes lemonade is inspirational. Lemonade is not made with the skin of a lemon, but rather with the core, with what is on the inside of the lemon. This is the exact same transformation we have when we become believers. Christ doesn’t worry about the skin or the exterior of a believer, He is in the business of using our core, our heart, and our character to make something new out of us.

Now this idea of becoming lemonade when we were once lemons is great, but it makes it seem as though lemonade is all we can become. This is far from the truth. We should all desire to be transformed into something new and that transformation could be any multitude of things in the same way a lemon can be used for many other things besides lemonade. What are some other uses of lemons? You can make lemon wedges to be put in tea or water to add flavor. You can make lemon slices to be put with a nice fish meal, or use them to decorate a center piece for your dining-room table. These are just a few ways to use a lemon. If we assume that there is only one way to be used in God’s kingdom we are putting limitations on His authority and power. He may have a number of ways He plans to use you just as master chef has a number of ways to use a lemon. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 tells us a handful of the ways God may choose to use us. We can be a person who is content with having one single use, or we can be a person willing to accept the gifts God has given us and become a multi-purpose tool for bringing glory to His kingdom.

What kind of lemon are you? Are you willing to use the gifts God has given you to be a better witness for Him? Or do find yourself being content storing up those gifts and never letting them transform you into what God has created you to be.