Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, November 20, 2025
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
It’s all about the fruit. We, like Israel, can count ourselves as special, singled out by God in some way as better than others. But no matter how beautiful the tree, if it doesn’t bear fruit—which is the visible expression of God’s love in the world—then it’s just a pleasant decoration. Even more, if we start with the idea that God has specifically planted us as fruit trees and we fail to bear fruit—well, might as well just cut us down and use us for some nice firewood. God’s people failed again and again to bear the fruit God planted them to bear, and they were overrun by other nations again and again. But here, in the midst of accusatory words about Israel, Isaiah drops a word of profound hope. There will come a time when we will finally get it. It’s not just about God doing the heavy lifting and fixing everything for us. It’s about us recognizing our purpose according to God’s will, which is to bear fruit, and then digging our roots deep into the soil of God’s word, stretching our branches out to the heavens God created, and bringing forth justice, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and self-control. Sometimes I despair that this will ever happen. But I can lean into Isaiah’s promise and just do my best to produce the fruit I can.
What does it look like for me to ‘bear fruit’ in my life?
