A few weeks ago we ministered in a church in the little town of San Marcos.
We arrived to the house that’s part of the church’s property (connected by the little garden and path you see on the photo in the other post) late on Saturday evening, just in time for a baby shower. As we walked down the path and into the kiosk where the church meets, I was struck by an amazing aroma. I walked by in awe.
The following morning, walking the same path, I stopped when I smelled the fragrance – and realized it was an orange tree. There are dozens of varieties of citrus here, and most of the varieties of oranges are actually green on the outside. (It sounds strange, doesn’t it, to say “green orange”?) I saw a sight that is just about impossible in Minnesota due to our distinct seasons: clumps of fruit and clumps of blossoms on the same tree.
That tree was providing a beautiful sight and smell in its blossoms – and nutritious fruit.
Fruit trees are meant to bear fruit. Christians are meant to bear fruit, too: “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit…” (John 15:8). Blossoms are nice. They are pretty, they are fragrant, and they attract attention to the tree. But blossoms aren’t the end result – fruit should be the end result of the blossoms!
If you see a tree branch with blossoms, you know that it has the potential to bear fruit. It only needs to remain connected to the tree and the fruit will come. All that is missing is the energy that the tree provides and time.
I realized that I had a branch that was blossoming, but not bearing fruit: music. The “blossoms” of that gift were attractive to people. I received compliments. But I needed to press in to Him, to abide more closely, to drink more deeply of His divine life in order to really be able to produce fruit: something that will nourish people, not just attract their attention.
As I’m in the process of recording, I see the fruit – and it’s not from me. It’s coming from Him, and it’s for the Father’s glory.