Colossians 1.10 …so that you may live a life worthy of
the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing
in the knowledge of God… (NIV)
Jesus said something like this: “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every
branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing
he prunes back so it will bear even more.” (John 15.1-2 MSG) His disciples
looked back at Him and nodded their heads, “Yes, Lord, You are. And we will do
whatever you say…” They understood farming and grapes; they just didn’t quite
grasp what Jesus was saying to them.
Paul echoed the Lord’s words in Colossians 1 where he
said: “…so that you may live a life
worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good
work…” Fruit is good stuff!
My life in Christ has been hammered with the concept that
fruit, in Christianese, only ever
means making disciples. I suppose there is some measure of truth to that but in
the context above, it means so much more! Fruit, is what we need to survive: the
fruit of plants, the fruit of water and minerals, and the fruit of meaning. Life without meaning is just hopelessly
putting one foot in front of the other, until one day the stepping stops. Life with meaning however is living within
and up to the potential God has for each one of us: never-ending, joy-filled
adventure.
Everyone gets hungry, lonely, or sad. Everyone suffers
loss of some kind or another. Fruit heals
this. The hungry may hunger for food but there are usually other hungers
therewith. The lonely may be in in the midst of a crowd and feel, no one knows,
no one cares. Those who’ve lost may feel they’ll never be refilled. Fruit solves that. Fruitbearing is having
the right thing at the right time to release the presence of God in what
appears to be an unsolvable life situation. Fruit is not only making disciples – fruit is what attracts a person to
God. The hungry crave substance.
And life with God is an intangible, invisible, yet very
real substance – it is the God provided ability (power) to pierce the darkness of
a person’s soul which says there is no
hope. Everyone needs to be cared for but they won’t care how much I know
until they know how much I care. Bearing fruit for God in every good work
proves how much I care. It’s like something to eat but with vastly different
results: the life of God is shared.
We are all so vastly broken and yet we have hope that we
are not broken beyond repair. The fruit of God transforms us from brokenness to
newness in life that only comes by it; we all need it. We all need the fruit of
God in our lives to transform us into something not just repaired, but
something Brand. Spanking. New.
Father, I continually ask You to fill me with the
knowledge of Your will through all the wisdom and understanding that Your
Spirit gives, so that I may live a life worthy, and please You in every way:
bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of You, being
strengthened with all power according to Your glorious might so that I may have
great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the You because You've
qualified me to share in the inheritance of Your holy people in the Kingdom of
Light. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment