So sometimes when I am driving places or thinking about things I will write them in my nifty little note application on my iPhone. Here are some of my scattered thoughts:
By Products of Life
-In my life I have worked so much for the by-products of things. What I mean by, 'by-products' is that I have gone for the secondary things of life rather than the primary things. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5.22-23).
My desire for the longest time is to have these things evident in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But here's the hard truth for me (and maybe for you): Unless you love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind and spirit, none of these things are possible/enduring. Sure you can love people, you can be patient in some circumstances, you might even be able to be joyful every once and awhile. But something that I realized in those times, is that there was really no satisfaction from being patient, joyful, or kind. What I mean, is that I was functioning out of wanting to look as if I had fruit. As if I were living from the vine, and not apart from it. Well a quick botany lesson, if a fruit tries to live apart from it's roots or branch, it will die. I guess what I'm saying is that, where I've stood has given me perspective about the nature of fruit. The place in which I live (the Bible-believing, God fearing, Republican-voting, and white-middle class America [insert sarcasm]), I have learned what it means to look/act like a Christian. To do all the "right things". To say all the right things. But in reality, in the heart, I have found that it is unsatisfying when you are not functioning from the Vine (namely: Jesus Christ). There is no enduring satisfaction because when I do try to function apart from Jesus, I am functioning for myself. I am functioning for the approval of others, which is temporary and inconsistent. I guess what I am saying/am learning, is that striving for by-products is stupid. I mean practically speaking let's look at a ever-overplayed sports analogy:
Let's say that I love baseball (which I do), and I wanted to look like a professional baseball player (namely: Hideki Matsui or Ichiro or Dice-K or any other fantastic Asian baseball player). But the reality is this: I am not a professional baseball player. I can dress like them. I can even try to talk like them. I can spit out jargon and try to imitate what they do. But at the end of the day, I am just a poser (someone who tries to look like someone they aren't) and I am a person without an identity, because I try to find my identity in something/someone that I'm not.
So essentially what I am saying, if you want natural, real, enduring fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control), go to the Vine.
Prune me back
So now that we have addressed what it means to be part of the vine. Let's talk about the vinedresser.
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit" (John 15.1-2)
-In short, these are my thoughts. He takes away the fruit that tries to look like fruit and does not grow. But the fruit that does bear fruit, He cuts back in order that it might continue to grow more fruit. In order that his Vine might bear more fruit. That it might produce more glory. That He might be magnified, proclaimed, and exalted among people.
So prune me back, so that I might produce more of your glory.
I'm going to stop here and talk more about the rest of this stuff tomorrow.
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