God created us and recreates everyone who follows Jesus to bear fruit for Him.  But bearing and enjoying fruit in this life – physical or spiritual – is usually a seasonal pleasure, isn’t it?

Earlier this week we had our first snow of the year.  As my wife and I were driving up to the house after some errands, she looked at our rose bush and laughed. “It’s finally dead!”  Not that we don’t like roses.   We love them.  We’ve just been amazed at how they seem to live through just about anything:  drought, heat, cold, torrents of rain, bugs, etc.  But I guess even those roses couldn’t last several days of freezing temperatures.

They’re not really dead, though.  Roses are perennials:  the flowering (fruit-bearing) part above ground dies in the winter, but it grows back in the spring from the living root underneath.  Again, the Lord’s creation provides a beautiful picture of life in Christ.  Our roses only seem to be dead.

But in Genesis 1:1-2, the world was actually dead.  It had no foundation, no fruit, and, thus, no favor from God.  It was completely dark.  Even the Spirit of God had not yet come into the world but was hovering over the waters.

Notice, though, that the Lord didn’t start by addressing the problems of the foundation or fruit.  Rather, He sent His undeserved favor by Light to shine on it.  Then it was just a matter of time before the world bore fruit.  And John 1:1ff is clear: that light was the eternal Son of God.  It was a foreshadowing of the gospel of Jesus.

Jesus came into our undeserving lives to save us so we would bear the fruit of new life:  love, joy, peace, and more (Galatians 5:21:22),  even though Ephesians 2:1-10 reminds us that we were spiritually dead.

Psalm 1 tells us that those who follow the Lord are like trees that bear fruit in season in this life.  But notice that in Revelation 22:1-5, we see fruit-bearing all year-round.  Then God will provide for His people everyday and forever.

So we wait.

We wait and watch for our roses to bloom in the spring. But we wait mostly for God brought us to life to continue His work of bearing fruit in our lives.  After all, He is the Gardener and the Vine for His people (John 15).

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