Sometimes we need to look deeper to see the value in people and things.

I ate a grapefruit.  That in itself is nothing special.  People eat grapefruits every day.  This particular grapefruit was not eye appealing.  In fact, most would probably have thrown it out.  In all honesty, I was about to throw it out, but on a whim, decided to peal it and taste it.  That grapefruit that would have been rejected and not given a second thought by most… and was almost considered chicken food by me, was well worth the effort of pealing.  The rind was tough, but the fruit on the inside was juicy and delicious. 

As I was eating the grapefruit, I was thinking how sad it would have been to throw something that was so delicious away.  If I had  thrown it away, I would never even had known that I was throwing one of the best flavored grapefruits away.  That got me to thinking how often we do that to people.  We think they are of no value, so don’t spend time with them, or listen to their advice.  They don’t come from the right financial and social class.  Maybe they don’t have the right education, or anything that we deem as beneficial.  So we maybe don’t literally throw them away, we just ignore them.  The ignoring may not even be a conscious thing, we just don’t see them because they don’t fit in a category that we think will promote whatever we are trying to do or achieve. 

Because of our oversite, I wonder how often we are losing out on some of the best friendships we could ever have, and maybe even someone who would be a mush better help to us than anyone one we think of as being worthy of our attention.  This sounds like a bunch of snobs, and maybe we really are not snobs, but have bought into the whole “surround yourself with people who can get you where you want to go philosophy”.  We become so goal driven that we forget that some of the people and things right near us may be just what we need…. And not just to reach our goal.  They may have advice, help us relax, laugh and enjoy life, and even just be a friend. 

Maybe it is time we quit throwing out the grapefruits and other things we think may not be good until we prove that to be true or false.  And maybe on a greater scale, we should start noticing those who we would normally walk by.  Just because they don’t seem like they are on our class of existence, doesn’t mean they are not valuable.  It could be they are there to test our character, or maybe they are just having a hard time right now.  Life is to short to ignore the jewels around us. 

I am so thankful God didn’t ignore me.  I could have been one of those not worthy of attention, but He loved me all the same, and He loves you too.  God considered you worthy of sending His son to die for you. You can trust Him with your life.  God bless you!