Fruitful in all Good Works

We all work with a goal or purpose in mind. For most of us, our goal is financial gain. We put in our 40 hours to earn a paycheck at the end of the week. Those fortunate among us work because we love what we do, we believe we are called to fulfill a ministry. We look forward to Mondays and think about our jobs when we're not there. But even those workers couldn't do what they do for long without financial reward.

Hopefully money isn't your only motivation for what you do. For the last few weeks my pastor has preached a series on the Fruits of the Spirit. Regardless of how we spend our days, our goal is to bear fruit. Whether that fruit is a paycheck or healthy, well-grounded children or trimmed hedges, we work to achieve a desired outcome. We even sleep to achieve a result--rest.

This week's sermon was on longsuffering. I don't need to tell you most people don't want to suffer, especially for any length of time. But that's where many of us find ourselves. You could say that's where I am in my writing career. I have been without a book contract for over a year...a very long year. Like many stuck in a career rut, I sometimes wonder what I am working for. If no one is buying, why bother killing myself to put words on the page?

The answer of course is to bear fruit. Fruit doesn't grow before it's season. The soil must be prepared. the seed sown, a period of wind, rain, and sunshine, and then growth. Finally the fruit is ripe and ready to be enjoyed.

My thoughts inspired by the pastor's sermons: My goal is to bear fruit. Christ must dwell in my heart, rooted and grounded in love. The power to bear fruit comes from the source, not the individual branch.

John 15:11-16 Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you, that ye should bring forth fruit.

Heavenly Father, help me to be fruitful in all good works. Let me not be discouraged by outward appearances; by the economy or rejection or frustration when things take too long or don't go the way I want. Let me continue to look to You from where true blessings flow and remember all the good works you have already wrought in me.