I live within walking distance of my grammar school. I can remember not being chosen when it came to athletics. When teams were picked out, I was often dead last, chosen to sit on the bench.
So, how wonderful it is that I’m now chosen as if I were a star player. Jesus tells me, and you: you did not choose me, but I chose you (John 15:16). The God of the universe, far more significant than a bunch of sixth-graders, chose me before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His Sight (Ephesians 1:4). Because of His Choice, I, who once was awkward and uncoordinated, have now been made confident and coordinated, on His Team today and forever.
But in this, note that I and you have been chosen for a purpose. Jesus said, I chose you and appointed you so that you might bear fruit – fruit that will last (John 15:16). We haven’t been chosen just so we can belong, sitting on the bench until the game is over. We’re to play, chosen to be participants in God’s gameplan. We’re appointed to be fruitful, to bear fruit way more lasting than the game itself.
When believers bear fruit, it will certainly involve the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). These qualities of Jesus are to be manifest in and through us as we do our part. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says that if we take our position without this fruit, we and He will gain nothing.
Note that Paul speaks specifically of three characteristics of Jesus that are to abide in us: these three abide/remain: faith, hope, and love (1 Corinthians 13:13). If you distill the Essence of His Life you’ll find these three. His was a Life of Faith from first to last, trusting in His Heavenly Father and cooperating with The Holy Spirit. His Hope was solely in God, Who sustained Him in His earthly life and brought Him back from the dead. And His Life was supremely marked by Love, that self-giving Love which gave itself to living amongst us, dying for us, rising ahead of us, and coming to save us. Faith, Hope, and Love are supreme marks of Jesus, and so they are to be that which both sets us apart from non-believers and invites them to join us. In every revival of true faith in history, from the personal to the corporate to the social, you’ll see that these three always abide, and remain.
So how is this abiding fruit remaining in you? Where is it thriving, or where is it shriveling? As you and I consider whether and how we are fruit-bearing, let’s keep the eyes of our hearts and minds focused on Jesus, the Fruitful Son of God, Who, having chosen and appointed us, alone can transform us to become fruitful like Him.
Len Cowan
Abbey of The Way