On the 9th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking,
Seven Swans a swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.
Our Readings:
Galatians 5:16-25 (NASB)
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 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.
24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
A Meditation:
The ninth of Christmas is a celebration of the nine fruit of the Holy Spirit. Among the many aspects of God’s character is the listing of the “fruit of the Spirit” by the Apostle Paul. Like so many pieces of Scripture, the fruit of the Spirit is not an invention of Paul’s imagination, but it is rooted in the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah. It was Isaiah 700 years before who had written about the Spirit of God:
Isaiah 11:1-5 (NASB)
1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.
The picture of the “shoot” from the stem is an amazing metaphor. A walk in the woods last summer brought me to a fallen tree, but there in the rooted stump was the beginning of new growth, a stem growing up as a branch all over again. It’s a reminder that the fruit of the Spirit at work in us is the work of Jesus who bears fruit within us in even the smallest acts of God.
A Prayer:
“O God, because without you we are not able to please you; please grant that your Holy Spirit would dwell in my heart by faith. I pray that out of the indwelling of your Spirit would emerge fruit, and with it more faith, to believe, to trust, to act in harmony with you, so that I might be walking in harmony with you today, tomorrow and forever. Amen.”
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