You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.

[From Worship Resources Year B: Beginning Advent 2014 up to Advent 2015, Herald Publishing House, p. 152]

I still have many weeks before I will be gathering any fruit from my garden. Until then I just wait—envisioning baskets full of tomatoes and zucchini before the summer is over.

This got me thinking about what Jesus said in John 15:16, “Go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.”

You may be asking, as I did, “How do we bear fruit? What is our water and sunshine?” God answers us very simply: “Love one another.”

Before you sit back and relax…thinking, “Oh, is that all?” let me expand the statement which also says, “Love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12).

Now I know enough about Jesus to know the kind of loving he’s asking us to do isn’t easy or simple. But if we do love one another to the level that he loves us, we will bear fruit that lasts. We’re not talking about tomatoes and zucchini anymore. We’re talking about giving to this world enduring gifts like hope to the hopeless, comfort to the lonely, health to the sick, freedom to the prisoner, and peace to the anxious and tortured.

So, what fruit am I bearing right now? Is it the kind of fruit that stands the test of time? Am I loving to my capacity, or am I like my garden right now—sitting, stewing, working up the energy to bear my first fruit?

Prayer Phrase

“See, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5).

Weaving a Life

Hold, or imagine yourself holding, a piece of patterned cloth. Examine it carefully. Notice overlapping threads, mingling colors that form the design. Write a journal entry or meditate about the threads and patterns of your life. What design do you see? How does the life pattern you are weaving create justice and wholeness in God’s world? What new pattern is God calling you to weave?

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.