pWhen God asks His people to bear fruit, it’s an invitation to allow Him to work in them. Right back at the start of the Bible, if there’s one thing that God wants His people to do, it’s ‘be fruitful’. In Genesis, He says it upwards of 20 times. Which makes sense at the start of human existence - having babies is necessary for, y’know, humans to exist. But, come to the New Testament, ‘bearing fruit’ means something different. Jesus wants His people to bear good fruit (Matthew 7:17), what we’d call the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Things like love, joy, peace and kindness. ‘Fruit’ like this helps people recognise who God’s followers are.br /
What does this mean for you, today? Maybe you’ve been waiting for God to show you the next step in His plan for you. That’s really, really great. But while you’re waiting on the next bit, the plan for now is humbly ask Him for the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, kindness, the rest - to multiply what He wants to grow in you. Whatever God’s plan for you is it’ll all be about growing fruits for others to see Him in you. As long as you’re willing, He’ll work with you to grow you into a fruit-bearing, God-rooted, solid oak. So, right now is a good time to get to work, study those fruits, and start to put them in place where we’re struggling to reflect Him./p
pWhat now?br /
Take a look at Galatians 5. Pick out one of the fruits, preferably a middle-ground one that you don’t find super-difficult to show, but also that isn’t 100% natural for you. Spend today showing it as much as you can./p