Comparing Apples ‘IN’ Oranges ?

Hmmm!  Apples and oranges?  Technically the idiom comparing apples to oranges refers to the apparent differences between items which are popularly thought to be incomparable or incommensurable. Simple right? The comparison to apples and oranges occurs when two items or groups of items are compared that cannot be practically compared. The idiom may also be used to indicate that a false analogy has been made between two items, such as where an apple is faulted for not being an orange.  Got that?  What about apples to pears?  Oranges to grapes?  The variations are endless.  Let’s not get crazy here.        

Two plus two equals four unless you ask an accountant. Then there’s interest, compound interest, amortization, depreciation, & homogenization. Before you know what happened, two plus two equals the color red with horns and a pitchfork! After all these years are we really trying to make believe that things are always as simple as we want to believe?

If I ask you to cut my grass for $100 and told you it’s a small lot, you might agree to do the work. What if you found out my small lot was 700 acres of pasture land, and all of it was on hillsides. Are you interested now? There’s something in the legal profession that affects any contract or agreement between parties called “consideration”.  That simply means that before two parties agree on something, there has to be given a certain amount of ‘consideration’ regarding the facts. Many people say you have to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges.

In the Bible Jesus did many miracles, both big and small. There weren’t any contracts with Jesus on the part of those being healed. Jesus simply saw a need and performed a healing. The healings were a form of credentials for those who didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah or someone sent from God. Sometimes the authorities discounted the actual miracle and wanted to know why Jesus healed or how it was done.

Some men carrying a paralytic on a mat brought him to Jesus for healing. “When Jesus saw their faith, he said, Friend, your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 5:20)  The religious leaders in the crowd said, who can forgive sins but God alone? Jesus knew what they were thinking and right then healed the man who was paralyzed!  A case of apples ‘n’ oranges? No, Jesus began with the man’s greater problem – his spiritual need – rather than his physical need!  There was a difference between the two.

Bottom Line

Sometimes we need to think like Jesus.  Identify real the problem—solve it!  Sometimes it might look like an orange on the outside, but the truth be known it is really an apple inside.  Knowing the difference between the two can change lives.