Chapter – 47 ‘Yosef teaches a lesson on Fruit’
It was a cool Saturday evening as guest started arriving at the CENTER for the evening service. Yosef had spent several hours preparing the message; it had changed a couple of times already as he had tried to finalize what he would talk about. His original intent was to teach on the many fruits mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23 but it was too much to tackle in one message so he tried to concentrate on one trait to start with. He read the two verses again and thought about each of the traits. He had finally selected the word GOODNESS a week earlier; he determined it would be his topic to use.
The dictionary used words like virtue, integrity, and kindness to define the main thought, which means to do good. He used his study bible to find verses where the actual word was used in a verse explaining the meaning. Besides Galatians, the thought was found in 2 Peter 1:3 and again in vs. 5. The context was telling the Christian that through the power of the Lord; that each Christian could be blessed and be led by the Holy Spirit to lead a godly life; not perfect but to be an effective servant; that is, unto the Lord; whom it is that we are to serve. Yosef checked his Hebrew commentary and looked at the verbiage. It defined the meaning as an excellent and courageous goodness. “Wow,” had been his thought when he first read it.
He considered the story of the Good Samaritan Luke 10:25; he seemed to have been a person who possessed the nature of ‘goodness’. It would be good if all we who professed the Christian faith would strive to make goodness a primary trait in our everyday lives. Yosef wanted to lead into the following statement; “Practice your weakness until it become a strength.” All of us have a weakness and some have more than one; our strengths take care of themselves but we all have to work harder on what we find tougher to do. He remembered a story from a lady in Atlanta who had commented, “My husband is so tough on our grandchildren it would take a heart, twice his size, to make him kind hearted to them.” Yosef had thought at the time that maybe he was a cruel person; he found out later that he had been raised during the big’ war; they were very poor. The family had lived without heat in the winter and never a birthday or Christmas gift. The man thought children of this generation were spoiled; that they needed discipline and somehow learn how to appreciate what they had; not think it was owed to them.
It was a different world today, no doubt, but the Fruits described in scripture were a guide for all generations. He thought of just the first two mentioned in scripture, “It was love and joy.” Then he thought for a moment and asked himself,” Can a person have true joy without love?”
Yosef then thought about a couple of men he had met just prior to joining the Army. Both of them spent several days each year fishing; they told him that it was fun and relaxing just getting away from the stress of life and drinking a few brews. There was nothing wrong with going fishing; in fact Jesus chose fishermen to become his first four disciples. Matthew 4:18-22. Yosef thought about the idea of inviting the guys attending the CENTER for a Sunday fishing outing; “maybe it could be a fun time.” He thought another few seconds and then he wrote a note to himself. “How do you separate Fun and Joy? Isn’t there a joy that scripture was trying to convey?” Then Yosef left his study and started to walk toward the auditorium. He asked the Holy Spirit to enable his mind to speak the truth in love but to also minister to the minds of his listening audience. What might convince them that they need more fruit in their life? “For sure life is a challenge.” he thought.
It was time for the first song; Yosef watched from his seat and prepared to teach the lesson.
Attached reference
Galatians 5:22-23, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. [If it were possible to possess all the FRUIT, we would be perfect in our actions, wouldn’t we?]
2 Peter 1:3-9, ‘The path to Christian growth is outlined in the text..’ [Aren’t we to practice doing what scripture talks about? We all want the promises of God; shouldn’t we be diligent in our spiritual growth and perform goodness to those around us?] YES.
Luke 10:30-34, Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion 34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. [The compassion of a despised person led to a good deed] – [By many ungodly or worldly standards; the Christian and Jewish faith is a despised religion]
Matthew 4:18-22, 18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. [How many people today put aside themselves and just follow the Lord no matter what. We seem to have something within; is it the ‘ME’ syndrome?]
DG