Aug 3, 2011
The Troubling Truth About “Bearing Much Fruit”
I had a bit of a grumpy afternoon yesterday. We were expecting thunderstorms, and I somehow got into a huff about our afternoon being ruined by rain and lightning and hail the size of hamsters.
I wanted to be outside, enjoying sunshine, not keeping a constant eye on each new wave of dark clouds.
I don’t know what gets into me sometimes. I just sort of a stew a bit and somehow I get worked up for a few hours. It passes, and I realize that the world isn’t so bad a place. We have rabbits who frolic about our home. There is coffee to drink each morning. Blueberries are in season.
Life is good.
I was praying this morning, and I began to think about Jesus’ teachings about fruitfulness in Matthew 21. Without sounding too dramatic, Jesus said that bearing fruit, i.e. producing the kind of life that God desires, is really, really important.
Ethics and practice are inextricably tied to our salvation in the Kingdom of God. Jesus wants people who actively reflect God’s character and nature. If we don’t reflect God’s nature, then we need to figure out who our Lord truly is and which kingdom we’re living in.
I began to think that I hadn’t been all that fruitful yesterday. Then I realized that I’d been plenty fruitful to a certain degree, but I’d been producing the wrong kind of fruit.
Yesterday I was producing the fruit of control and selfishness, wanting things to go exactly according to my plans. Rain in the afternoon, eh? Then I’ll just be tense, grumpy, and moody about it—introducing my fruit.
We’re always producing something. The scriptures make it really clear that the fruits of God’s Spirit are things like peace, hope, self-control, and even patience for dealing with rabbits who nibble on coffee tables. It shouldn’t take us long to figure out what’s influencing us based on the fruit we’re producing in our lives.
If you’ve had a yesterday like mine, take heart. God wants us to be fruitful. He’s not sitting back waiting for us to let him down. He wants to help you and me rest in his perfect strength today and make a clean break from yesterday. We can produce good fruit today because God is passionate for his people, compassionate when we repent, and powerful enough to change us.
I pray that you’ll produce fruit today that results from time spent resting in God’s presence, enjoying his favor for you. May you abide in his goodness and love, allowing his power to bring about good works and joy in your life.
