Every summer I have a battle on my hands. Some of the enemies are from without and one is within. My figs grow, swell and ripen while I make plans for my annual batch of fig preserves. And the birds and the squirrels make plans for their annual raid. Now, if you want to know when fruit is ripe, just ask a bird or a squirrel. They know the exact minute, and they are there. If I am gone for a few days and the figs ripen, I can return to a tree that is pretty well picked. So, I try to outsmart them. When the figs are nearly mature, I start poking, peeling and pulling, trying to convince myself they are ready. And, because I am not as smart as your average bird or squirrel, I end up with a lot of green fruit.

      It is only when some of the fruit reaches the final stage of ripeness that I remember what maturity looks like. In the variety of fig tree we have, the ripe fruit is a beautiful color-- a purplish golden, greenish brown that no painter could ever capture. Furthermore, in its ripeness, it just glows.

     Our final fruit is a fruit that comes only with full maturity and it, too, glows. It is the fruit of glory. Only when we have patiently allowed the life of the Spirit to work in all His fullness, will we see--much less desire--this fruit. We do well when we want the Lord's ways more than our own. We do well when we follow His voice because it alone brings happiness and fulfillment. It is only in the final stages of the maturing process that we desire God's glory above all else.

     For most of us, the desire for God's glory above our own interests comes along slowly. We are fallen creatures and, until we receive new bodies and new minds, self-interest is our knee-jerk reaction to life. But when we see God glorify Himself in a situation, the Spirit witnesses with our spirit that the Lord He is God. And that is the purpose for which we were created. Worship is not an activity, but a response to truth-- the truth we were created for, the truth that creation is groaning to have revealed. When we seek God's glory, when we see it brought to light, we experience life the way it was intended to be and the way it will be in heaven.

Dear Father, May we glow with the maturity of the Spirit's ripe and abundant fruit. And may our glow and our lives bring others to You. For Your glory alone.  Amen.

Nancy S.
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