“God said, Behold, I have given you . . . every tree, in the which is the fruit. . . . To you it shall be for meat [food].”
Genesis 1:29
Sometime ago we looked at jakfruit trees, which have fruits that smell terrible but that taste unusually good and are popular with the people of India.
There is another awful-smelling but good-tasting fruit that grows in the Philippines and Indonesia. It is called the durian and is about the size and weight of a coconut and grows hanging down on long, strong stems. This melon-like fruit is dark green, oval shaped and covered with thorn-like knobs. When a fully ripe durian fruit drops, it can badly injure or even kill a person or animal if it hits them.
In spite of their awful smell, the local people wait impatiently for durians to ripen and drop, as do elephants, tigers, wild pigs and other animals. Because of their awful smell, visitors will seldom even taste this fruit. The local residents claim they taste like rich custard, flavored with almonds. They sometimes eat them fresh, like an avocado or cantaloupe, but more often they are either cut up or mashed, then mixed in ice cream, candy, cake icing or other confections.
When durian is sliced and served on a plate in a restaurant, everyone soon knows it is there. Though foreign visitors may get up and leave, even if they haven’t finished eating what they ordered, the local residents consider this fruit a real treat. They sometimes come back with the remark, “Well, it’s just like limburger cheese. Lots of people don’t eat it because of its odor, but many others enjoy it and don’t let the smell bother them.”
Did the Creator make a mistake when He provided these lands with jakfruit and durian trees? No, they are simply another example of His providing a great variety in all He has created. Perhaps He primarily intended them as food for birds and animals, giving them a strong odor so these creatures can tell when they are ripe.
This world has many problems, but in heaven everything will be perfect-there will be no unpleasant odors there. How nice to know that God has prepared a heavenly home for those who have had their sins forgiven by letting His Son, the Lord Jesus, be their Saviour. His invitation to all is “come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Are you one who has come to Him? Are your sins forgiven?
ML-08/13/2006