Knowing My 'Place'

"Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives.  And don't even think about saying to yourselves, Abraham is our father.  I tell you that God is able to raise up Abraham's children from these stones."  Luke 3:8 (CEB)

No doubt, John's version of 'show me the money.'  John is talking with the crowds ('you children of snakes'), not the Pharisees or scribes or other religious leaders (the snakes).  As quickly as he tells them to make their lives match their words, he shreds their primary excuse, the one they use when they just don't get around to doing/being Godly.  But, I'm with Abraham; I'm under the promise.  John isn't dissing Abraham, just pointing out that it's not who you know but who lives in you that matters.  What difference does it make that you're a child of Abraham, or of Lynn and Becky Leatherwood for that matter?  What difference does it make whose leadership you sit under or what church you attend?  Their faith - whoever 'they' is - is their faith.  You only have responsibility and benefit from your own.  No way around it.

Which leads me to the most troubling part of this verse.  Troubling only because I confess, I'd like to find the shortcut, the easy way around, the formula for success and ease ... but there is none.  John makes it clear that the baptism he preached and offered was about desire for a new beginning, a desire to be forgiven and set right (or, righteous) before God.  And that desire will be evidenced by the kind of fruit that grows from a changed heart and life.  Sounds great, but see, here's the problem ... I don't have it in me (and you don't have it in you) to produce that kind of fruit.  I've got the desire down pat.  But, the only thing I can do to show that kind of fruit is to let God's Spirit grow it in me. 

Why am I powerless to produce that kind of fruit?

• I want to do Godly stuff, I want to "be" good, but the very things I say I'm not gonna do anymore ... that's the stuff I do and the stuff I intend to do, the stuff I WANT to do, I don't. (the Sandra translation of Romans 7:14-15)
• The natural consequences (read: fruit) of living as a human being are ugly because on my own I'm selfish. (Galatians 5:16) But, the 'fruit' of the Spirit (read: Spirit living in me and producing in me) is beautiful:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

I have hope; you have hope if you'll grab hold of it!  It is possible for the kind of fruit John calls for to be borne in us ...  It's all in knowing what our place is, what our job is, and surrendering to God, allowing God to do His part.  In Jesus' parable of the farmer who sowed seed, he leaves little, if any, room for us to misinterpret the lesson:  we are the soil. (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8) My role in fruit-production is simple - to receive the seed.  I'm not responsible for the sunshine or the rain, how the seed was sown or managing what it will become.  I am only responsible for yielding myself to what God plants in me, giving what I can. and staying out of the way so that He can grow it.

I want badly to produce the kind of fruit that pleases God and brings glory to Him ... fruit that's beautiful to look at and delicious (read: nourishing).  Can't do it on my own no matter how hard I try.  But, God can and will do it in me, for me if I'll let Him. 

Creator God, all your works are beautiful, glorious to behold, and beneficial to your people.  Make me fruitful, not for my own satisfaction and certainly not for my pride (not for decoration), but that the evidence of the transformation you are working in me will be an encouraging sign to others.  May the fruit produced in me be nourishing to us all.  Amen.