[Jesus says], "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit -- fruit that will last." ~ John 15:16 (NIV)
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Last weekend, I bought some beautiful looking strawberries at the store -- yummy! It was a large container, and I thought it would last me all week. Wrong. The fruit just didn't last. Some got shriveled and some got kind of rubbery before I could eat them all! I wasn't happy to throw a quarter of those berries away, but fruit doesn't last forever...sometimes not even a week! :-(
Jesus says that, as His followers, He calls us to be fruit-bearers...not just pretty trees blowing in the breeze. In fact, He has some pretty strong words for those trees that aren't productive in John 15. There are great theological debates about what it means to be cut down and thrown in the fire for those who are unproductive, and I won't go down that path today. But I think His point is, if you are connected to Him and stay connected, you will bear fruit...fruit that will last.
So what is this fruit that will last? Many would say this is evangelism, because a soul saved is for eternity (John 3:16). Others would say faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 15:13), because as Paul says, these three will remain when other things fade. And then, of course, there is the fruit of the Spirit that Paul references in Galatians 5:22-23...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. So which is it? All of the above, and more.
Just as we can't put God in a box by trying to label our spiritual gifts, I don't think we can say there's only one kind of fruit we bear that lasts. Anything inspired by God in your life will last! Why? Because He lasts. He is eternal. What springs from Him is always green and vibrant and fruitful! When you are connected to the True Vine, you're gonna produce fruit that doesn't go bad in a week -- because God doesn't know the word "decay".
But we sure know the word "decay", don't we? When we're not spending time with God but running solo instead, what kind of fruit do we produce? Rotten. Don't think so? Let me help you...
It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. ~ Galatians 5:19-20 (The Msg)
Wow. That is pretty sobering. Do we see ourselves in this mirror?
If we are followers of Jesus, we have a job to do -- we're on mission for Him! If we're connected to Him, we're gonna bear fruit that represents His eternal plan and glory, fruit that lasts...if we're not, we're just clogging up God's garbage disposal with rotten produce.
Are we willing to take a sober look at our lives and examine our fruit, the outward evidence of what's on the inside? If we really desire to be all that God has planned for us, we will walk the vineyards of our lives and be honest with ourselves and with God. Is there stuff that needs to be tossed, branches that need pruning? Then ask God to help you, to clean out the inside of your soul that is producing bad fruit or no fruit at all.
Jesus calls you to a productive spiritual life -- it's not a call for the weak. I challenge you to work alongside the Master Gardener to develop in you a life that springs forth the eternal good from Him, fruit that never needs to be thrown away.
Love,
Joelene
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2 comments:
The part of that verse today that got my attention is something that's been on my mind for a little while now: "You didn't choose me, but I chose you..."
I have become convinced that my joy in the Lord comes from realizing the God has perosonally chosen me.... hand picked me, softened my heart, revealed Himself to me, and by His Holy Spirit made me to be born-again to spiritual and eternal life, and that I really, really did nothing to have this. It was given me by His grace and amazing mercy.
Each person who is born-again enjoys the same truth, and what a reason to rejoice!
There's a lot more rolling around in my head and heart, and I don't know if my theology on it all is right or not, but to know that God had me in mind before the world began, had mercy and chose me to be His (when the Bible is clear that He could have heardend by heart against Him if it fit His purpose) is just so staggering that I can't help but be humbled and grateful and thankful and joyful.
Now then... in light of that, I say onward toward bearing the fruit we are called to bear in His name!
Thanks, Mike, for your thoughts. I don't fully understand the whole predestination either, but I, too, am humbled and grateful that God granted me faith to believe in Him.
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