I remember a Far Side cartoon depicting “An Apple Keeping Three Doctors Away for Eight Hours”. The math on that is pretty elementary. You just divide 24 hours by three doctors, and you have eight hours each. But what about seven doctors? Well, running that through a calculator, I see an apple keeping them away for 3.428571428571428 hours, or three hours, 24 minutes and 42 seconds.

Which is, of course, a waste of time. Because in fact, we all know that “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” doesn’t have a literal meaning. It simply means that fruit is healthy food. Extended, it means that what we choose to eat has an affect on our physical well-being. Apples don’t have the magical ability to ward off members of the AMA.

Nicodemus made a similar stretch when he sat down to talk with Jesus. “Unless one is born again,” Jesus said, “one cannot see the Kingdom of God.” Nicodemus took that statement literally. “Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” It was a good rhetorical question, because he knew there was more to what Jesus was saying. Jesus taught in parables, and there was always a deeper meaning to the physical examples he used.

Stopping at a mere literal meaning doesn’t help us truly understand God’s words. We have to ask what lies behind - and beyond – the surface of what we read. We have to get to the core of the apples, so to speak.

We invite you to join us Sunday morning, at 9:30 for adult Sunday School and 10:30 for worship. We’re located on the corner of First and High Street in Steelville. For more information, check out our website at steelvillepresbyterian.org.