Some of the fruit trees in our garden produce more than one variety of fruit. It’s amazing to take a bud from one desirable tree and graft it onto a another compatible tree, and in time harvest fruit from this new variety. There is actually no limit to the number of varieties you could have on one tree!
As believers in Jesus we are grafted into Him and become connected to the life Jesus gives us. We place ourselves with Jesus where He is. Jesus expresses this in John 12:26, “Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.” Serving Jesus and being where He is means Jesus gets to call the shots on what He wants us to do. We join Jesus in what He is doing rather than ask Jesus to come over to join us in our pursuits.
I recently experienced the joy of being where Jesus wanted me to be when helping a friend. What was going to be a couple of hours expanded out to much of the day. I had a choice of seeing this as preventing me from doing other things on my agenda, or seeing this as an opportunity to serve my friend. I actually had the sense that this was exactly where God wanted me to be. The willingness to submit to Jesus as our Lord, the director of our lives, is an ongoing daily choice. It is also the way to inner joy, freedom and fruitfulness.
For reflection:
In your heart are you placing yourself with Jesus where He is?