My Dearest Jesus, Thank You For the Fruit Basket!

(My personal note of thankfulness based on Galatians 5:22-23)

My Dearest Jesus,

Thank you so much for the wonderful fruit basket you sent through the Holy Spirit!  I have been journeying for quite a while, and was just thinking about you when this beautiful gift arrived! You always send a basket at just the right time and it always has my favorite fruit in it.

You always give me plenty of love- it’s the sweetest and juiciest fruit!  It runs down my chin-but the thing about love is that it always reminds me of you and what you’ve done for me so when I eat it, it makes me cry.   I always end up giving some of it to other folks because you give me so much!

Peace is wonderful, but sometimes I have to dig through the basket to find it.  It’s tiny but packs a punch!  Just one bite and I feel like all my burdens are lifted and I’ll know I’ll get to my destination!

Longsuffering has a bitter twang to it-but it’s wonderful for endurance on this journey.  It’s not my favorite fruit-it has so many seeds! But I need it more than any of the others besides love.  I notice you always give me plenty of that one.

I just give kindness away.  It’s the strangest fruit.  It doesn’t seem to have any flavor to it at all unless you share it. And the meaner the person you share it with-the better it tastes!

Goodness is such a beautiful fruit, I feel guilty for biting into it, but when I eat it I feel so thankful for a friend like you, Jesus, and the guilt just melts away.  I feel close to you when I eat this fruit.  Can I get more of it next time?

Faithfulness has a tough skin.  Once I actually had to throw it against a wall to pierce it- and it cracked the wall!! It lasts longer than the other fruit.  The flavor never changes, no matter what I do to get under its skin. It reminds me of our friendship.

Gentleness is fuzzy.  It bruises so easily.  I like this fruit because I can eat the seeds, its juice is not sticky, the flesh is sweet, and it melts in your mouth. Takes some getting used to though, because it grows with Self-Control and…

Self-Control has a lot of spikes on it!  Go figure! If I grab at Self-Control I get stuck, but if I reach for it carefully, the spikes become soft.  If it weren’t for this fruit, I would be able to grab more fruit from the basket, but I have to be careful because this fruit seems to be everywhere.  And you can’t just eat Self-Control.  You have to wait for its skin to crack open, and then peel it back.  I’ve never had to take more than a bite or two.  I don’t know about this one, Jesus.  When I eat it, it just makes me want more of the other fruit!

Thank you so much, Jesus! You always know just what I need! This basket is even bigger than the one you sent me last time, so I’ll have even more to share!

Love always,

Sharon