Be Fruity

Let me [as God’s representative] sing of and for my greatly Beloved [God, the Son] a tender song of my Beloved concerning His vineyard [His chosen people]. My greatly Beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. And He dug and trenched the ground and gathered out the stones from it and planted it with the choicest vine and built a tower in the midst of it and hewed out a winepress in it. And He looked for it to bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes...for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. (Isaiah 5:1-4,7)

While reading Isaiah 5, I began to wonder why the Lord of hosts built a vineyard?

For those of you who may not know, the Lord of hosts is the Lord of the armies of God which include the angels, stars, hail and fights for anything that can be arrayed against the people of God. If there is any skirmish, battle or war, both on earth or in the heavenlies, this is who you call upon. That being said, why would the Lord of hosts build a vineyard and not a fortress? And furthermore, why does the Lord of the Armies of God want grapes and not warriors?

Simply put, LOVE is the most powerful weapon on the planet. How can it not be when God Himself is love?

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

John 3:16 says,

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

If God sent His Son Jesus to die for your sins, who then went to hell, where the most evil-est, wicked-est, vilest spirit beings reside, defeated them and their overlord, Satan - not only defeated but took the keys of death and hell from Satan, then that makes God's Son, Jesus, and God Himself - LOVE - the most powerful. And thus, LOVE is the most powerful weapon on earth and in the heavenlies, where principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this age, and spiritual hosts still reside (Eph. 6:12)

But back to our question: Why would the Lord of hosts build a vineyard and not a fortress and why does he want grapes and not warriors?

Because God 'created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it...' (Genesis 1:27, 28)

Therefore, God created us to BE FRUITFUL, to multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it. Though we have a four (really five) part assignment, this t-shirt was designed with our FRUITFULNESS in mind.

So how are we to be fruitful? Galatians 5:22 and 23 tells us exactly when it states,

the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law that can bring a charge].

This my dear readers (and hopefully customers :) is how you become FRUITY.

When you love, have joy, are glad, keep the peace, are patient, kind, benevolent, faithful, meek, and demonstrate self-control, then you are FRUITY. And though this sounds effeminate, these are actually the most powerful traits on the planet and is what the Lord of hosts was looking for.

After He dug the vineyard, He expected the people to be fruity, to demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit in their daily lives. However, the people failed to meet His expectations as the bore poisonous fruit. Hence, 'He looked for....grapes, [but] it brought forth wild grapes.'

These fruity tees are our reminder that these are the traits we should exemplify. That even though others may consider us weak when we do, when we do, we are actually being our most dangerous and powerful selves. Our God is love and He has proven He, through His Son, has all power. So, let's walk in that power and go BE FRUITY!