LUKE 8:15 - CULTIVATING FRUIT

CULTIVATING FRUIT

Luke 8:15

MSG    “But the seed in the good earth—these are the good-hearts who seize the Word and hold on no matter what, sticking with it until there’s a harvest.

TPT  “The seed that fell into good, fertile soil represents those lovers of truth who hear it deep within their hearts. They respond by clinging to the word, keeping it dear as they endure all things in faith. This is the seed that will one day bear much fruit in their lives.”

VOICE “But some people hear the message and let it take root deeply in receptive hearts made fertile by honesty and goodness. With patient dependability, they bear good fruit.”

James 1:2-4 (NIV) Consider it pure joy,

my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that

the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 

Let perseverance finish its work so that

you may be mature and complete,

not lacking anything.

James 5:7 (NIV) Be patient, then,

brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.

The soil that yields a significant crop is the person whose heart has been tilled and cultivated by the Holy Spirit. When that person hears the word of God, she not only responds enthusiastically at the time but perseveres, sticks with the commitment made to the Lord. A farmer plants the seed and then must wait for the harvest. I had a small garden outside my classroom. One year, my second graders planted radish and carrot seeds in late February. The twenty-one days or so that it took for the radishes to be ready to eat seemed like an eternity to seven and eight-year-olds. They patiently took turns taking out the watering can to keep the soil from drying out, and a few minutes of recess time were devoted to checking for weeds. Harvest day was joyous as they tasted the fruit of their labor. A few of them spit it back out but were still thrilled that they had grown their own radish. Our growth with the Lord requires daily attention as well. We must not lose faith or patience with the process of cultivating spiritual maturity during the times of trial. We must be faithful to drink up the water of God’s word. We need the sunlight of encouragement from other believers. We need to keep the soil loose by obedience to what God has shown us. The reward will be to grow in Christlikeness displaying the Fruit of the Spirit:

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

As we mature in our relationship with Jesus, we will bear fruit in the form of others surrendering their lives to Him as we share the Gospel. The children were a bit upset about the carrots. I was only able to pull a scrawny beginning of a carrot to show them before the end of the school year. I continued to water and weed our carrot bed and harvested them in June. We must not get frustrated and lose patience when our sharing does not seem to produce an immediate crop. We must also remember that sometimes we plant, others water, and yet someone else reaps the crop. But, ultimately, God is the Lord of the harvest:

1 Corinthians 3:5-9 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

If the soil of your heart was well cultivated, and the seed of God’s word took a firm hold there, it was the work of the Holy Spirit preparing and drawing you. In order to maximize your fruitfulness of character and in witnessing, you need to continue to draw on God’s food found in His word, the Sonlight found in the fellowship of believers, as well as the cultivation of the Holy Spirit continuing to root out the weeds in your life.