We live in a world full of choices, often choices we can pick and choose from. I recently needed to buy some body wash. Who knew that could be so hard, with every scent from teakwood to tropical coconut. They even had deep woods. Wouldn’t that attract mosquitoes?

Not into body wash scents? Okay, then think back to the last time you went out to eat. When you can order individually priced items off the menu, it is called À la carte. The literal meaning of the French phrase is “by the card,” but is commonly used to mean “according to the menu.” As opposed to À la carte, a set meal (grilled chicken with a salad and two sides) at a fixed price is table d´ hôte, which comes from the French phrase, “the host’s table.” This is the type of restaurant menu we are most accustomed to seeing. A third menu is known as prix fixe, which is one price for all courses served together as a meal.    

Many times, we want to follow God à la carte. We want to pick and choose which of God’s commands to embrace. God has given us free will to choose between good and evil, right and wrong, love and hate, etc. Paul tells us that we have freedom in Christ. In Galatians 5:13 we read this, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom in indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”

This freedom we have is a liberty (free from restrictions) not a license (permission granted to do something). What I mean by that is our freedom is not a permission granted to indulge our flesh. Galatians 5:19-21 gives us a list of the sinful acts of the flesh. This list is à la carte; each behavior is “separately priced” and can be “ordered” on its own. I can have outbursts of anger without being sexually immoral. I can struggle with envy without practicing witchcraft. 

Today I want to focus not on the acts that our sinful nature is capable of, but rather, I want to look at the fruit that comes by living in the Spirit. The “Fruit of the Spirit” consists of attitudes and actions that should all be evident in followers of Jesus. In this context, the word “fruit” is in the singular form, meaning it is not an À la carte menu to pick and choose from. These nine fruits, like a table d´ hôte menu that does not allow for picking and choosing, come as one “set meal.” I cannot model kindness but leave out patience or self-control     

Let’s switch images from restaurant menus to actual fruit. But first, sometimes the English language is rather confusing. A cluster (singular noun) of grapes is singular whereas a bunch (collective noun) of bananas is considered plural. Looking at it another way, this Spirit fruit is like a bunch of grapes, all one cluster, as compared to separate and differing bananas, ones we can pick and choose from.

So then, just what is this fruit? In Galatians 5:22-23 we find, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there in no law (NASB).”

These virtues need no classification, but to help understand them, let me offer three categories. The first three can be viewed as habits of our heart, the second three as social values, and the last three concern how we are to be in ourselves.

Leave À la carte at the restaurant. Pass by the bananas. Ask God to help you grow fruit in your life from His singular cluster of grapes.

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Are you someone who enjoys standing around with friends singing popular songs into a microphone over pre-recorded music? We call this type of entertainment “karaoke.” Year after year, a favorite karaoke song is one written by Paul Anka and popularized by Frank Sinatra. You know the song, titled “My Way,” and the words, “I did it my way.” According to karaoke experts (there really is such a thing), the most popular karaoke song is Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”

There is something to be said about charting your own course through life rather than simply following in someone’s footsteps. In fact, Robert Frost wrote a well-known poem titled “The Road Not Taken” which begins with the words “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both” and ends with this –

“I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages hence and hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

But “my way” or the “one less traveled” is not what God desires of us when we submit to Him. The Bible is full of people who did it their way, beginning in the Garden of Eden. Chapter 27 of Genesis might just be the most disobedience filled chapter in the entire Bible. It narrates the “My way” actions of one very dysfunctional family. 

But if we truly love God and we trust that His ways are better than our ways, then we will desire to live out that love and trust in our actions. Obedience to God is defined as submitting our ways, our wills, to Him. As you can guess, the Bible is also full of references to “God’s Way.” In Genesis, Chapter 12, Abram (later named Abraham) showed no hesitation when God instructed him to “go from your country.”

Joshua was told to march around Jericho for seven days and then the city would be destroyed (Joshua Chapter 6). And of course, Jesus is our ultimate example of obedience, even when it was painful. In the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-46), He cried out to God, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

After a long night of fishing and pulling their nets up empty, Jesus asked master fisherman Simon (Peter) to go back out and try again. It is likely that Simon wasn’t too happy with that request, but here is his response to Jesus, found in Luke 5:5 – “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”  

Now here is obedience I seriously hope God never asks of me – “In the year that the commander came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it, at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, ‘Go and loosen the sackcloth from your hips and take your shoes off your feet.’ And he did so, going naked and barefoot” (Isaiah 20:1-2). The text goes on to tell us that Isaiah walked around naked and barefoot for three years.

The word karaoke comes from two Japanese words: “kara” which means empty and “oke” which means orchestra. Doing life our own way often does leave us feeling empty. Jesus, in the opening words of the Lord’s Prayer says this, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

So, today I encourage you to fully submit your will to Jesus and leave “I did it my way” to what you sing when you gather with friends around the Karaoke Machine. Me doing life “my way” is simply bad strategy. You doing life “your way” is simply bad strategy.

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Wildfires are some of the most potentially dangerous natural disasters. In just seconds, a spark can set off an inferno that can overtake thousands of acres, threatening property and lives in its path. Once a wildfire begins, it can spread at up to 14 miles per hour. For combustion to occur, three things need to be present – fuel to burn, air to supply oxygen, and some heat source to bring the fuel up to its ignition temperature. When fighting wildfires, the firefighters work to remove one of the components of the fire triangle (fuel, oxygen, heat) in order to contain and eventually extinguish the fire.

In recent weeks, due to the extreme dry conditions, we have wildfires burning on both coasts, destroying everything in their paths. Scripture talks about our tongue in that same way. If left uncontrolled, our tongue is like a spark that can set a forest on fire, causing unfathomable destruction.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, likened an uncontrolled tongue to that of a spark that sets a forest on fire – “If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell” (James 3:3-6).

He goes on to say that an uncontrolled tongue is also like a restless evil, full of deadly poison (v.8). Sadly, we see forest fires and deadly poison in so much of today’s dialogue.

Conversely, our words can also be of tremendous kindness and hope to those who hear them. Or who read our words on social media platforms. The Bible speaks frequently about guarding what comes out of our mouths. Let me share three verses –

 Proverbs 12:18 (NIV) – “The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”

Ephesians 4:29 (GNT) – “Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you.”

Proverbs 16:24 (ESV) – “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”

So, today, I ask you and I ask myself – is your (my) tongue a honeycomb, sweeter than honey, or a spark, one capable of igniting the forest? 

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We have two cats. No matter what might be going on, they love to be near us. Either walking between our feet or cuddled up in our lap. Sometimes looking out the patio door or even napping in front of the fireplace. Always near us. When I paint, both cats love to sit near my feet. Their constant purring has a calming effect on me. Our cats never seem to let what they might be doing keep them from being near us.

This is the time when most of us are beginning to plan those annual holiday gatherings. I think more so than other times of the year, during the holiday season we want our gatherings to be warm and cozy, comfy and inviting, filled with wonderful and lasting memories.

Not only is there much time and effort put into the preparations, but once the guests arrive, we are constantly “doing,” wanting everything to be perfect, like a scene straight out of a Hallmark movie, and we never really get to sit and just “be” with the guests. It is only after everyone has left that we find out from our spouse that the neighbor’s kid got accepted into one of the military academies and the guy down the street, who recently moved in, has cancer. Hospitality toward of our guests is not a bad thing. Just sometimes it causes us to not be able to savor the enjoyment of spending time with those whom we care about. We often put so much time and effort into planning and executing our holiday gatherings that we sometimes end up being too exhausted to really enjoy the holiday season.

We often do the same thing with Jesus. We are so busy “doing” for Jesus that we fail to simply “be” with Jesus. There is a story in the Bible that you might be familiar with. It is found in Luke 10:38-42. Jesus stops by the house of his friends, sisters Mary and Martha. The text tells us that Martha was distracted by all the preparations that needed to be made while Mary simply sat on the couch and listened to Jesus. When Martha showed some displeasure with her sister for not helping with the work, Jesus gave an answer that very likely surprised her – “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her.” (vv.41-42)

What is Jesus saying? He was giving Mary and Martha, and is giving us today, a lesson on priorities. Neither sister was necessarily wrong in her response. Jesus is not teaching the value of a contemplative life compared to a life of action, but instead He is teaching that serving Him and those around us should not fill our lives to the extent that we fail to spend time with Him. We cannot let our “doing” get in the way of our “being.” Before we can “do” the work of God the Father, we need to first “be” energized by God’s Spirit through an encounter with God’s Son.

We must learn to give our Lord and His Word priority, even over loving service. To fellowship with Jesus, we might have to leave some things undone, even good and worthy things. Jesus is more interested in our undivided hearts than He is in our big acts of sacrifice.

So, today, I ask, are you busier doing for Jesus than you are being with Jesus?

And we should take a lesson from cats – this holiday season, do not let your doing crowd out times of just being with God and with those you love.

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We are a world that is in perpetual motion. We run full bore from the minute we climb out of bed until the moment we collapse back into bed at night. Then once we climb back into bed at night we roll around and find ourselves not able to sleep; our bodies are exhausted, but our minds are still racing, thinking of a million things. Our cell phones are never out of arms reach. Even weekends and vacations are of no help; we take our work and our technology with us wherever we go.   

The beginning of the long holiday season is just two weeks away, and with it comes perpetual motion. From Thanksgiving to Christmas most of us are in a constant state of “full speed ahead.” And during the holidays we also often replace trips to the gym with trips to overcrowded malls, buying more and more gifts. Seriously, does your brother really need another titanium driver to put in his golf bag? And we replace quiet evenings at home with holiday parties, school concerts, extra hours at work to finish up year end projects.

Before the craziness begins is a perfect time to look over your own life and intentionally build times of silence and quietness into your schedule. Your body needs down time to rest and recharge, and your soul needs times of silence and quietness in order to hear God’s voice. God sometimes speaks in loud tones, but most often He speaks to us in gentle whispers (see 1 Kings 19:11-12).

It is really hard to hear God’s voice if you do not build times into your daily routine to dial down and simply be at rest. Psalm 46:10 tells us that we are to “be still and know that I am God.” And among other things, Isaiah 30:15 tells us that “in quietness and trust is your strength.” Two other be still and silent verses come to mind: Psalm 37:7 and 62:5.

Being still and blocking out the distractions helps us focus on what God is doing in us and around us. Samuel, Israel’s last judge, was passing the baton to Saul, who would become their first king. In Samuel’s farewell address, he instructs the people to be “stand still” in order to both be reminded of God’s past and current righteous acts (1 Samuel 12:7) and see His divine power (12:16).   

If you know anything about wheels, then you know that they turn around an axle. There are two types of axles – live and dead. Live axles rotate with the wheels, transferring engine power to the wheels, whereas dead axles are simply load bearing. In rear-wheel drive vehicles, the rear axle is live and the front axle, dead. In front-wheel drive vehicles, the opposite.

So, in either case, even when the wheel is turning at 65 miles per hour, in the dead axle there is no movement at all. It is static, even as the wheel around it turns. And just as with the axle, while life around you and me turns at a high rate of speed, it is of utmost importance that we find a place where we can go to be alone with God in stillness and quietness. That place of no spinning.  

It takes commitment to carve out time and space to stop turning and slow down your pace of life. The time and space looks different for everyone, but one thing is common among all who say they regularly hear from God… they spend time in His presence, away from the speed of life.

So today and throughout the upcoming holidays, I encourage you are be counter cultural and amid the busyness, also slow down. Your body will be glad you did, and it gives your soul time to find rest in Jesus.

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Are you the type of person who isn’t satisfied with simply knowing information? Instead, you like to dig into the “who, what, where, when and why.” Last week I wasn’t satisfied with just knowing that there were 538 electoral votes available to the presidential candidates. I wanted to know why it was 538. If you care to know, the answer is each state gets a certain number of electors based upon its representatives in Congress, plus three for the District of Columbia.

Sometimes it is fine to just look above the surface while other times it might be important to dig a little deeper. One area we often try to figure out, and always come up short, is trying to understand the ways of God. God works how God works and it is up to us to be faithful. If we knew all the answers to how and why God works, it wouldn’t really be faith now would it? And even if we knew those answers, we wouldn’t always understand (see Isaiah 55:8-9).

In the Old Testament book of Job, one of Job’s friends, Zophar, asks him this question regarding God’s supreme power, His unfathomable wisdom, and the reasons for His actions – “Do you think you can explain the mystery of God? Do you think you can diagram God Almighty? God is far higher than you can imagine, far deeper than you can comprehend, stretching farther than earth’s horizons, far wider than the endless ocean” (Job 11:7-9, MSG). Zophar was seemingly under the false impression that he had access to the deep things of God, thereby allowing him to torment his friend for not holding the key to knowing God’s ways.

At the end of the 11th Chapter in the Book of Romans we read this doxology – “Oh, the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen” (11:33-36)

Our role, as followers of Jesus, is simple. We are called to be obedient and trust God in all things, even when those things don’t make sense. Proverbs 3:5 (using CEV) tells us, “With all your heart you must trust the LORD and not on your own judgment.” That verse is the what and v.6 gives us the why – “Always allow him to lead you, and he will clear the road for you to follow.” Other versions say, “he will make your path straight” or “he will show you which path to take”.   

So today, focus less on trying to figure out the whys and why nots of God and more on trusting that He is in control and that His plan, His path, is way better than any plan or path you could ever dream up. Yes, even better than the yellow brick road.

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