Fruitful

You just gotta love being fruitful. Fruitfulness, of course, requires a seed, because it is the seed that eventually bears fruit. It also requires soil, and proper soil conditions, because it is the soil that causes the things planted in it to grow. In the parable of the sower, Jesus mentions the seed that doesn’t germinate; the seed that sprouts and quickly dies; the seed that sprouts but isn’t given proper nutrients or room to grow; and the seed that sprouts, grows, and is fruitful.

Our first batch of seed, Jesus said, doesn’t even sprout. It lands on hard-packed soil, and a root cannot gain entry into the soil. The birds come and use it for food. This happens when we don’t understand the word that we’ve heard. Having spent a number of years around persons who believed you didn’t need to understand anything—that if you heard it and it went into your spirit, that was all that was necessary—I find it rather interesting that understanding is the basis for fruitfulness. I have heard many things, and there are a good many things I understand now that I didn’t understand before, but I can tell you this for sure: until I understood it, it wasn’t fruitful.

The next batch of seed falls on soil that has a hard layer of rock directly beneath the surface. This, Jesus said, was the equivalent to hearing the word, understanding it, being excited about it, telling all your friends and expecting them to understand ... and then being devastated when they don’t. This almost always happens when people don’t have "root in themselves." When we need the support of others in order to walk in God’s will for our lives, the word has no hope of bearing fruit, because if there is one thing you can count on, it is that the people around you will not understand what God has spoken to you! In fact, they’re a lot more likely to tell you that you can’t hear from God, or what you heard couldn’t have been God! Fruitfulness requires that we be solid in ourselves, and okay with "just me and Jesus," if necessary.

The third batch of seed sprouts and shows great potential for growth, but it doesn’t have enough room. You understand it and you’re happy about it, but you have too many ... responsibilities. There are too many things that must be done. You just don’t have time to nourish this little plant. After all, you need that roof over your head. You need money in your retirement and savings accounts. And the one thing that would be able to sustain you throughout any trouble and trial is neglected and unable to be fruitful.

The words that God speaks to us bear fruit when we understand them, when we’re willing to walk alone in the face of opposition, and when we’re willing to give them time and space.

THIS is how we glorify our Father: by being fruitful.

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