A Fruitful Harvest

Post date: May 30, 2014 8:43:22 PM

A few days ago I spoke to a friend who reminded me of my original inspiration for this blog. It seems that my thoughts had gotten a little off track as I started chasing my own theme rather than the one that was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Some people were suggesting to me that I was experiencing a writer’s block but truthfully I feel that the Holy Spirit was restraining me from writing because I had strayed from his leading.

 When I was a boy there was a small farm close to my home where my friends and I would go to pick pears from the trees that grew on the property. We enjoyed climbing but the real highlight was feasting on all the ripened fruit. The trees were wild and the fruit was worm infested but this didn't deter our enthusiasm. I'm not sure how many pears we consumed but the ground was always littered with dozens of half eaten pear carcasses.

 Matthew 13:22-23…Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit, and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

 It has always been my desire to maintain a good moral character so after reading this scripture I was further inspired to try to lead a fruitful life that would be pleasing to God. This was a noble vow but of course I hadn't considered nor had I fully comprehended the spiritual meaning of the term “to bear fruit”. The words good ground/soil, seed and fruit seemed to stand out to me as I read this passage so I decided to investigate these words to discover their relevance to the scripture.

 John 10:10…“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

 The Soil

 In the spring of each year my wife and I look forward to working in our garden. One of our first activities is to conduct an annual after winter tune-up which involves raking, breaking and tilling the soil. This process is conducted to make it easier for the new plant life to break through the soil which has become hardened while experiencing winter’s harsh nature. In a similar manner, before I understood the truth of God’s word I let the tragedies of life negatively impact my character so that my heart was hardening toward God and I was ignorantly distancing myself from his counsel. It is fortunate for me that God declares in Isaiah 55: 11…So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth: it shall not to return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

 The same events that inspired me to read the bible for the first time also inspired me to pray for His acceptance. I have since learned that the Word of God when it is introduced to us through any forum like childhood memorization, bible stories, reading, prayer etc., will always remain and take up residence in our hearts. For me, a combination of these elements contributed to an eventual softening of my heart. The Word of God had not returned to God void but rather was alive and being used by the Holy Spirit, like a spiritual plough, tilling the ground of my hardened human heart.   

 The Seed

 Isaiah 53:2   “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.”

 1 John 3:9…Whosoever is born of God does not sin; for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

There were a number of similarities regarding a seed that came to mind which I hadn't considered prior to investigating this scripture. The first similarity is that a seed has a very plain physical appearance similar to that of Jesus’ earthly appearance. Secondly, natural seed is of the earth and Jesus is our heavenly seed. The physical seeds and the Spiritual Seed are appointed by God to be the source for life. Lastly, a seed needs a place to incubate. To accomplish this task a plant seed uses the soil, a human seed requires a womb and a spiritual seed needs a heart.   

 The Fruit

 John 14: 12…Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father.

 Galatians 5: 22…But the fruit of the Spirit is love , joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…

 The last word in this study is fruit. It comes as no surprise that a seed can only produce the fruit of its own kind. In other words the seed of an apple can produce only apples but not bananas; similarly the spiritual seed produces only the fruit of the spirit but not worldly seed.

 Conclusion

Is the fruit that is being plucked from your spiritual tree edible? Even a wild pear tree still produces pears. Is the fruit of your spiritual tree pleasing to God and ready for harvest?

Romans 8: 11 says “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Christ from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”  The spirit of Christ is alive in me and through faith He is producing a daily harvest of life, health, prosperity, deliverance and service for others to enjoy.

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