Fruit is one of the most beautiful things we can encounter on a summer day. Fruit in a natural setting that is picked and eaten is especially nice. My favorite fruit lately is the blackberry. As Gail and I wander in the woods of Georgia, we love to find and pick blackberries. They seem to be a generous gift that simply grows out of the clay soil and cries out to be eaten. There is some pride in harvesting a pint of blackberries because of the care of working around the thorny stems upon which they are borne.
Of course other fruit: citrus, tomatoes, bananas are of interest to me also because I grow them in my yard in Florida; but blackberries seem to be a natural, graceful gift of nature that offer such a delightful pleasure for a few weeks in the summer.
As we consider the Fruit of the Spirit also consider the wonder of blackberries. They are born out of a natural process of flora that offers the perfect expression of what is hoped for on a hot summer day. There is no doubt when a blackberry is ripe and while there are literally thousands of varieties, they all seem to elicit the same joyous response of a found treasure growing in the brambles.
God’s Spirit is also a gift of grace that ripens into a joyous treasure, a life lived in faithful trust. You can’t will fruit to blossom in your life; you mostly find it in the serendipitous moment of realizing that the path you are on has brought you to a place of blessing.
And as much as I love the taste of warm blackberry cobbler, the Fruit of the Spirit is even more luscious.
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.” - Galatians 5:22, 23
As we worship together in August, let’s be seeking to cultivate fruit.
Peace,
