Still Ripening

These sweet chestnuts I found growing at Sandringham in Norfolk. They were not yet ready to open and eat, for they were still forming, the hardness and flavours not quite correct. With time, however, and they would be fit for roasting over a royal fire.

Our spiritual fruit often looks too small, too little and certainly not very ripe. The Good Gardener, however, knows what He is doing. This fruit tree is a work in progress, and shall one day better reward the Gardener for His efforts. He is truly patient with us, though I pray that when we seek to assess our own fruit (rather than others'), we do so with a godly impatience and holy disappointment. Let us resolve to be more fruitful.