Canning Food and Serving YHWH

There has been lots and lots of canning going on at the end of this years harvest. We have done more variety this year than in years past. It has caused my mind to go back to the Proverbs. "Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which having no chief officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest. How long will you lie down , O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?"

This proverb tells us not only how to live our outer life but also our inner life—for YHWH. He tells us to always be prepared in every way for His coming.

Look at the parable of the ten virgins. How in the end the virgins that did not keep their lamps filled with oil had to leave and go get the oil. While they were gone Messiah came and they missed Him. We can keep our lamps filled by staying in YHWH's Word. We need to be careful not to run out of oil.

Canning is a way to be prepared for our life here and now. Many of you reading this may wonder what canning and our spiritual life have to do with each other. I feel that it is a good comparison.

YHWH planted the trees and helps them to grow. We take care of them, harvest the crop, and then store the harvest. He plants HIS Word in hearts, and we harvest it. Then we use our harvest by spreading His Word, sharing it with others.

Here are some examples.

Canning fruit. This is like the fruit of the spirit in our lives. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control. We need to take the fruit of the spirit and apply it in our lives by being like YHWH in our everyday lives. Love is how people can see the joy we have in YHWH.

Canning tomatoes. The acid that is in a tomato is like the hard times and irritations in our lives. But tomatoes are delicious. This shows me that in every hard time YHWH has something good.

Green beans are next on my list. Before you process them in the canner they are hard. With a lot of pressure, they are processed and softened, ready to eat. It makes me think of how we are before YHWH enters into our lives. Our hearts are hard, till we let YHWH in. Sometimes it takes a lot of pressure to work on us and soften us.

I love to make salsa. Some is warm, some is hot and spicy. It looks good but it is tooooooooo hot. We are tempted, we try it, and oh it is too hot. Like sin, we are tempted by the things of this world (sin) and then we try them and the sin is hot! YHWH says to be in the world but not of it. So by staying in His Word , we can know when things are toooo hot; we can stay in this world but not follow the sins of this world.

Onions. The first step to canning an onion, is slicing them, salting them, and covering them with ice. Then you pour off the ice and put the onions in the jars, make a brine and pour it over the onions. This to me is YHWH taking us (the onions) and submersing us with His Word, and then HE pours out His Spirit on us to cover us with His blood. When we try these onions, they are not hot anymore, they are sweet. Just as He wants us to be.

Now we have corn. Corn is yellow, the lights that shines from Him, like rays. Corn has the outer part, the kernels, and the inner part, the cob. The outer part is YHWH and His shell around us. The inner part is us, being safe in the covering of YHWH , because He loves us.

Potatoes grow under the ground. We pull them up from the dark ground, wash them and can them. Yahshua was put in the dark ground, yet to be raised up as a new life cleansing us , for all to see and to know that He is our all in all, King of Kings, El of Elohim for ever and ever.

I am sure there are many more examples we could pull out of the foods that we can, but this is what YHWH has shown to me to share. I pray that as you read this that HE will reveal more things to you. YHWH bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you and give you Shalom. All credit goes to YHWH for showing these things to me.

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Article written by Grace Sweeney. She is 25 years old and lives on a farm with her family in Kentucky.

And thanks to Joy for the beautiful drawing of the girl and a butterfly!

You can also find both the article and the drawing on their respective pages here on the the site.