God didn’t give me new life in Christ so that I could be successful in the eyes of the world. He chose me and called me to bear fruit. It doesn’t take a lot of demanding effort on my part to do that. It simply requires that I abide in Christ, the true vine, and let His life flow through me. I realize now that the fruit I am called to bear compels me to embrace the events and circumstances in my life in His strength. I don’t have to understand what is taking place around me. I am not obliged to make anything happen. It is not necessary for me to have the answers to the problems I encounter. My responsibility is to simply live in the present moment by faith and trust God to do the work according to His will the way He sees that it needs to happen. I have duties and routine obligations that I must fulfill, but along the way I need to be prepared for His interruptions and be sensitive to what He is doing. To be a fruit bearer I need to be a good observer and be ready to participate with Him when I am called upon to get involved, always responding in Christ’s love. His light is a flame in me and I want to let it shine.
“You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.”
Psalm 18:28
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then, the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
Matthew 6:22-23