Fiona Veitch Smith

Matthew 15:1-17

The cantelope pepper I told you about yesterday turned out to be a bit of a one hit wonder. It bore one gorgeous, tasty, fleshy red fruit, but that was it. Meanwhile, the little chilli took its time and finally produced a small, but significant crop. I had to decide between keeping the flashy pepper or the faithful chilli as the latter was slowly being strangled by the former. One needed to be cut back so the other could grow.
 
After nearly 30 years of being a Christian I’ve come to realise that real fruit takes a long time to grow. In fact it will take a life time. Now there’s nothing wrong with new Christians showing fruit early on, but the really good stuff often takes longer to mature. The fruit of the Spirit is God-grown. These are the things that reveal our true selves as God moulds us into the people he wants us to be.

Pruning through difficulties and trials

 
Often they grow out of difficulties, conflicts and trials. This is the pruning that Jesus talks about in today’s passage in Matthew 15:1-17. I must ask myself: Am I loving, joyful peaceful and kind? Am I gentle, patient, faithful and self-controlled? Are these the things that emerge in a stressful situation; when people and circumstances put me under pressure? If not, and often it’s not, then God’s got a bit more work to do with me. This garden is still a work in progress.

This meditation is taken from a series in Faith Station. Published by King’s Cross Training.