Basket of Goodness

Yesterday Dave and I were out shopping and we stopped at a Sprouts. We were looking for a particular type of pepper that we had eaten recently, Shishito peppers, and we really enjoyed them but this isn’t about peppers.

It’s about fruit.

This was first time we had been in this store. Somehow, we had expected it to be larger and we remarked on that; we also remarked on the display of fruits and vegetables. Everything was so brightly colored – the arrangement of the fruits was like a big, welcoming, delicious fruit basket. We not only found the peppers we were looking for but several other fresh produce items as well.

So this morning in my reading I was reminded of my shopping experience yesterday morning. All that fresh fruit yesterday was attractive; it was pleasing to the eye as well as to the taste.

“But the fruit that comes from having the Holy Spirit in our lives is: love, joy, peace, not giving up, being kind, being good, having faith, ²³ being gentle, and being the boss over our own desires. The Law is not against these things. ²⁴ Those of us who belong to Christ have nailed our sinful old selves on His cross. Our sinful desires are now dead.

²⁵ If the Holy Spirit is living in us, let us be led by Him in all things. ²⁶ Let us not become proud in ways in which we should not. We must not make hard feelings among ourselves as Christians or make anyone jealous.” Galatians 5:22-26 NLV

The Holy Spirit will cause us to produce attractive, delicious fruit that is pleasing. When we are led by the Spirit our lives will draw attention; we will be different from the rest and people will be drawn to the characteristics we display and in turn, they will be drawn to Christ.

This fruit isn’t something we develop on our own. It comes through our relationship with Christ and it’s available to everyone who allows the Spirit of God to work in them. God doesn’t just reach out to the “good people” of life and make them better, He reaches out to ALL and makes us new.

“God treats everyone alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. ²³ All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. ²⁴ But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins. ^25-26 God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life’s blood, so that by faith in him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This also shows that God is right when he accepts people who have faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:22-26 CEV

Everyone of us, everyone, can and will produce the beautiful fruit of the Spirit as He works in our lives. We should look for opportunities everyday to share our basket of fruit with those around us.