Isaiah 11:1-10

I may have been milking our herd of 50 cows as a 15 year old but my first paying job was picking boysenberries for Muller Berry Farms - a whole $.90 that first day.  Toward the end of the season Dave Muller asked if I would be willing to help string 'new growth' berry vines for next year's crop - at $1.25/hour,  Absolutely!  He even provided a few cuttings for me to bring home.  We had a twenty yard row of boysenberries in our garden that we enjoyed for decades.  But that's not the end of the story.

 When Beth & I bought our first home, I got cuttings from mom and dad.  Subsequently, our youngest son took cuttings from us for his home in Roseville.  As we have aged, Beth and I deliberately downsized - and brought cuttings for planting at our new home.  Alas, they died - as did the ones our daughter in Fresno got from us.  But, but - the plants in Roseville were doing extremely well so we got some of those from our son and now, once again, have healthy, producing vines here in Modesto.  When our grandkids come over in late May, few berries end up in the baskets.  Even the dog enjoys those luscious ripe berries.

 That "stump" of Muller boysenberries, in spite of ups and downs, is still producing fruit some 59 years later.  The "stump" from Jesse didn't arrive until roughly 1,000 years after Jesse died.  Some of Jesse's descendants were fruitful vines. Others....well, let's just say there were others.  But according to the apostle Paul, when the season was right that "stump," namely, Jesus, was born of a woman, born under the law of Moses.  What a cause for celebration, for he is the one who brings the fruit of reconciling freedom to this world.

 Our timing rarely coincides with God's timing.  But His is always perfect - and until the time is exactly right, God finds ways to keep the "vine" growing.  As the "stump" of Jesse, Jesus has done his part.  If you will, we are now the delectable boysenberries bringing the good news of God's Kingdom to the palate of a world hungry for refreshment.

PRAYER: Lord, please continue your good work in me and in us that we may find our gifting(s) and true passion(s) in order to exhibit the long enduring work of your love for all humanity.

PROMPT:  What is the “fruit” - the gifts and passions - you are bringing to the world? How might God want to use them to bring flourishing to the world?