True fruitfulness
O taste and see that the Lord is good;
Happy are those who take refuge in him. Psalm 34:8
Read Colossians 1:3—6
There is no doubt that I can fill my life with activity. It can be good and worthy. It can even be churchly activity. And it can be, I have to admit it, mere activism. To fill my time. To stave off boredom. To justify myself. And it can be fruitless, or, rather, the fruit of it can be exhaustion, ill temper, a carping spirit, and disillusionment. I may have achievements to show that others admire, and their admiration may be the secret motivation that has moved me. Yet I may have become poorer in what really matters. Faith in Christ, love of the saints, regard for the neighbour, hope in the word of truth. They can be such hidden things. But if I miss them, no amount of activism will mask the gaping hole at the centre of my being.
Dear Lord, you have made me for yourself. I have such futile restlessness if I seek to find myself in any other way than faith and hope and love. I have proved in my life-time how fruitless my life is capable of being. It happens when I turn my focus from who your are and what you have done to all that I plan to do myself, even what I plan to do for you. When it comes from me it loses its true glory. When I am found in you, and co-operate with you, and seek your glory and connect with your heart-beat, then I know why I am here. Then I am pleased if people look at me and see something of you.