We’re coming to the end of apple season here in upstate New York, and I am grateful. Yes, grateful.

The problem is that I love apple season.  From about January on, I can hardly wait for fresh, tart, juicy apples, instead of those tasteless, mealy things the grocery store has – some of which, I discovered this summer, come from New Zealand, probably on a very slow boat.

My all-time favorites are MacIntosh, and they have been especially large and juicy this year.  Then a couple years ago after the Mac’s were done for the season, my local orchard convinced me to try Crispins.  Ooh-hah!  They are very crisp and tasty, and they keep very well.

This year, my hubby got me two large bags of Macs and a very cool gizmo to peel them, core them, and slice them, making that process much easier for my achy hands.  This has resulted in apple pie and multiple batches of Apple Brown Betty, from an old friend’s excellent recipe.

So why am I glad apple season is almost over?  Because I made the mistake of reading this the other day:

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)

Like Eve, I think apples are among the best things that God put on this earth.  I certainly desire them almost all year, and I would have to admit that I’m passionate about them.  And I have definitely not crucified my flesh in this regard.  In fact, I feed this passion.  I cater to my hunger for all things apple.

Are apples sinful?  Of course not  (unless God has told you not to eat them, and we all know how that turned out for Eve.)

The sin is that I’m feeding my flesh instead of my soul.  I’m letting my fleshly desire and passion rule what I do, instead of crucifying that flesh.   It would appear that  a little discipline and self-control are in order.

I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
(1 Corinthians 9:23-27)

As always, Christian bloggers are invited to participate in the Word for Wednesday. See the WFW tab above for details.

I was following links this morning, and came across a story that the media largely ignored. Here’s part of a wire story from FoxBusiness posted in the Markets section:

Members of Ecuador’s national police and members of the air force on Thursday started protests and went on strike against the government of President Rafael Correa.

The heated protests started after the Correa administration went ahead with reforms that will cut benefits and affect decorations that increase remuneration for the police and military.

Police officials burned tires in the streets and protested against the government, while air force officials shut down the airport in Quito. The army has said it supports Correa.

Here are more details from a missionary in the area:

In a matter of hours Sept. 30, a nation of 14 million people found itself at the mercy of gangs and hoodlums, ransacking and looting at will.

Ecuador, the South American nation I have served as a Southern Baptist missionary for 24 years, isn’t known for being politically stable. With eight presidents in the last 10 years, Ecuadorians have seen many uprisings, strikes, demonstrations and unrest. Trouble struck again Sept. 30.

That day, as we were going out to celebrate my wife’s birthday, we noticed people running down the streets. Traffic backed up along the side streets of our neighborhood. Within minutes, word spread: “The national police are striking. Go home immediately, lock your doors and stay there!”

Even as I rushed to get back to our house, businesses were locking up and people were jumping into their cars. When I stopped someone to ask what was going on, he shouted, “They’ve robbed the bank down the street! There is looting all along the shopping district a block away!”

With the threat of more than 40,000 national police walking off the job, chaos and terror soon reigned across the country.

Patriotic Christian Americans know, of course, that nothing like this could ever happen here. But just for a minute, I ask you to imagine that it could.  Just for a minute, think about a scenario that would leave our country at the mercy of looters and criminals.  Think about how our military would react.  Just think.

As you imagine this situation, try to figure out how you would react.  As this missionary did, I suspect that most of us would try to find safe haven for ourselves and our loved ones, but what would your next step be?  Would you dig out your ammo and clean your guns?  Would you set up barricades to harden your safe haven?  Would you venture out to get food and supplies to last through the storm … even if you had to turn into one of the looters to do it?

If you thought to pray, what would you pray?  Would you pray for safety for you and yours?  Would you pray for God to restore our country, to eliminate the fear and chaos?

A couple years ago I took a walk through the New Testament prayers.  Almost all of them are prayers for people’s souls.  They are prayers for Christians to walk as Christians, to know God, to share God.  Prayers for personal safety and earthly comforts are rare.  Here’s part of one of my favorites:

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. (Ephesians 1:18-19)

Here’s what that missionary and other Christians are doing in response to the chaotic events in Ecuador.  Would we do as well, or would we just want our creature comforts restored?

While this latest round of political unrest is tragic, we ask Christians around the world to pray that it will become the catalyst for a long-awaited harvest of souls here in Ecuador. On Oct. 10, all evangelical Christians in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city, will unite in a citywide evangelistic effort. We will blanket the city’s schools, parks, media, homes, government offices and sports arenas in an attempt to reach the entire city of 3 million people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pray that the tragic events of Sept. 30 will prepare people’s hearts to respond to the Gospel.

Hell is happy to provide us with vain philosophies and other mental futilities by which we are blinded, flattered, coarsened, and calloused until our damnation is complete; these must be rejected and left behind as we draw nearer to Him who loves us and will heal us from our wounds — self-inflicted and otherwise.

-Jim Wetzel, WFW 9/22

The statement above generated a rant in my heart that continues today, as I see person after person cling to error when God reveals the truth.  So consider last week’s rant this week’s Word for Wednesday:

Why is it that so many people refuse to reject the old when God is trying to show them the new? Christianity is supposed to change us from “glory to glory,” and yet so many cling to their understanding from decades ago, not acknowledging that God reveals Himself to us in bits and pieces as we are able to bear it.

I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. (John 16:12-13)

Out with the old man that causes us so many problems. In with the new, that looks more like Jesus every day.