Amos 8

A Basket Of Summer Fruit

Behold, a basket of summer fruit. Amos 8:1.

If any of you children chanced to go to Ayrshire in summer and found yourselves near a place called Alloway, you would meet tourists from all over the world, and see them, not only lingering by the banks of the river Doon, but trying to get a glimpse of a real Scottish ploughman. The explanation of this is that there once lived in the neighborhood a ploughman whose name was Robert Burns. He was a man who had visions. He could not see even a wild daisy growing without dreaming about it, and thinking beautiful thoughts about it. When he wrote these thoughts down, they seemed full of music. Ever since his death, people have spoken of Robert Burns as the greatest of Scottish poets.

Sometimes I think that town children miss a great deal by not coming more into contact with the people who live always in the country and whose menfolk plough the fields and take care of the sheep; their lives are so full of interest, and they themselves are often so good.

The prophet Amos was just a farm laborer.

According to his own description, he was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees, which means that he tended the sheep and the goats and took care of the sycamore fruit. In the course of his day's work he naturally had many opportunities of learning Nature's secrets and of hearing God speak. One day there came to him the command of the Lord to go and tell the people of Israel about their sins. And Amos went. Think of this plain man of the hills appearing among those who thought themselves very great and also very “grand.” Amos, the herdsman, might seem rugged and uncouth, but you may be sure that his straight, simple words arrested the attention of his listeners. He took pictures from his outdoor life to enforce his arguments.

Once a vision came to him “a basket of summer fruit.” That sounds nice, doesn't it? I know that the thoughts of you boys and girls turn at once to strawberries, raspberries, and plums that have a beautiful fresh bloom upon them. But to Amos this vision did not speak of the deliciousness of ripe summer fruit, but of its decay. Probably there appeared to him just the common fruit among which he worked every day during the whole fruit season the fig of the sycamore tree. It was one of those fruits that have to be eaten as soon as they are plucked. You know how soon even strawberries and raspberries lose their flavor when off the bushes.

The sycamore fig of Palestine was a peculiar growth.

It grew, not from the young, but from the older, branches of the tree. When the fruit was nearly ripe, it required to be punctured, or to have what is called its “eye” removed, for the fig was infested with an insect that gave it a bad taste. When the “eye” or top was cut off the insect escaped and the fruit then became sweet.

The vision of the ripe sycamore figs brought to Amos a vision of judgment for Israel. The sycamore fruit was ripe for decay; so, too, were the wicked people of Israel. They were God's children and had forgotten it. Their happiness and prosperity could like the sweetness of the figs endure only for a moment. The end was near.

It is right that your dream of a basket of summer fruit should bring to you only joy. God meant it to be so. For those of you who cannot have baskets of strawberries or raspberries He has made a lovely fruit garden. It is out in the country, in the woods and by the waysides. With some of you, summer reaches its fullest glory only when there comes a day of gathering ripe wild fruit. You love color. You like the field flowers. But what happiness is to be compared with that of spending a day in the woods, or of wandering for hours among hedgerows, and at night going home with baskets full of Nature's good things? You don't all carry baskets, I know. I have met many a merry party returning from gathering blackberries. The shy, happy smile, the little black mouths, and the flagons told me what they had been about.

Does your “basket of summer fruit” speak to you of anything beyond the mere joy of gathering and eating it?

Many years ago a girl went blackberrying with her brother. The wood was a long way from where they lived, and a schoolboy companion asked them to go to his home for tea. This boy's father was a crofter. What a quaint old house the girl was taken to! She looked up and saw the rafters in the kitchen. They were quite black. At first she wondered if she could enjoy her tea. Of course she did, and that very much. Afterwards, quite a number of people came into the kitchen and seated themselves in a circle. Bibles were handed round, then a psalm was sung to a very old- fashioned tune. After that came a chapter from the Bible read verse about. Some of the readers read like little children: you know what I mean. Lastly, they all knelt down and an old grandfather prayed.

On the way home the girl felt that her day at “the blackberries” had somehow not been quite so full of fun as usual. Now, when she is old and has forgotten the sweetness of the wild fruit, she looks back on that Saturday as one of the happiest in her life. There was sunshine; there were flowers; and her visit to the crofter's cottage made her think of God.

Boys and girls, God has given you; these summer fruits to enjoy. They come with His blessing. They are part of His great plan of goodness for you. But don't forget, in the joy of gathering, to thank the great Giver for all His rich and splendid gifts.