joy bringer
ALL YOU CAN
EAT FRUIT We have rounded the corner, and the end of the year is in sight. The last few months of the year bring us many holidays and traditions - most of which include food! Sweet treats, homemade goodies, and edible gifts are everywhere. Moderation is key to make it through the marathon of celebratory eating and holiday indulgences. But don’t you wish that wasn't the case? Maybe it’s just me, but one of the aspects I hope is included in heaven is all you can eat! “Welcome my good and faithful servant, the feast is this way! And there’s no need for stretchy pants.” Abundance is a concept in scripture that I love. Abundant life (John 10:10). Abundant blessings (2 Cor. 9:8). Abundant provision (Deut. 28:12). The list goes on, abundantly! God is a God of abundance, and He wants us to receive and enjoy it. He especially wants us to indulge in an abundance of fruit. The familiar list of the fruit of the Spirit is found in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But I think the most important part of these verses is the last seven words almost never included. Paul ends this list by saying, “Against these things there is no law.” Paul was writing to Hebrew people. They were very familiar with law and limits. They knew how far or how close, how much or how little, when and where for just about everything. Limitations and rules dictated their lives, so this was very good news! Paul is saying that there is no limit to the amount of fruit we can have, we have total permission to stuff ourselves and get fat on fruit. 16 October 2021
Sounds great doesn’t it? Who doesn’t want unlimited love and joy?! Abundant kindness and peace? Yes, please! Unending patience sounds like a dream. So why then are we not all so full of fruit and dripping with abundance? Because there is a catch. It’s up to us to cultivate. Just like following Jesus takes intentional effort to put one foot in front of the other, so does the cultivation of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. The mere presence of the Holy Spirit within us won't do the trick. If that were the case, most of us wouldn’t have a least favorite fruit (come on, you know it’s patience). If just the presence of the Holy Spirit caused us to produce abundant fruit we’d live in perfect harmony with everyone. Cultivating takes work.
The word “pruning” doesn’t sound so bad, but what’s challenging is what it means - cutting. Ouch! When I look at a beautiful fruit tree or rose bush with an abundance of beauty on it I don’t think, “I know what I should do, I should cut off those branches!” It doesn’t make sense to us. But ask a gardener and they will get right in there and chop away! Cutting off what is not only dead or weak, but also the branches that are only somewhat productive. This will lead to a healthier and abundantly productive plant.
