17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3: 17, 18 (KJV)
Today I want to focus on the process of making olive oil. It is quite labor-intensive. The olive trees must mature for several years before they produce fruit. Those trees must be carefully pruned to help them produce an optimal number of olives per tree. In order to produce about four cups of oil, it actually takes at least ten pounds of olives.
Olive oil is produced by grinding olives and extracting the oil by mechanical or chemical means. I’m told the process involves the complete breaking down of the olives. Whether green or black, the process is the same.
But the result of the grinding and extracting differs based on what’s inside the olive. For example, green olives usually produce more bitter oil, and overripe olives can produce oil that can be rancid. In order to produce good extra virgin olive oil, care must be taken to make sure the olives are perfectly ripened.
What kind of olive oil do you produce when the pressure is on? Are you bitter? Rancid? Or are you perfectly ripened by the Son of God, so that your product is good