Be Fruitful part 2

The seed rested safely in the pot buried under the blanket of soil.  My oldest and I planted it with complementary agendas in mind, hers the joy of experiencing something grow and mine the excitement of teaching her how we get some of our food.  We visited it daily initially, awaiting evidence of its existence above the dirt.  Busyness eventually gave way to letting rain take care of our duties some days breaking our routine of tending to the seed’s needs.  Eventually, the days between watering increased in longer intervals as it became more of an after-thought shove to the “I’ll do it tomorrow” list.  In time, greenery did sprout filling the pot in all directions but it was not the greenery we hoped to see.  We successfully grew a pot of weeds and the fruit of our seed never showed.  Despite even our best attempts

He blesses us to be fruitful

God’s call to be fruitful, in this passage, also conveys a blessing giving us the inherent ability to be fruitful. Yet, we can no more make a seed grow in the natural than we can in the supernatural.  Seeds do not just sprout simply because they exist.  We cannot will seeds to take root and develop fruit but God will never call us to do something we are unable to without His help.  God as the gardener has planted within us seeds meant to produce a fruitful life.  In His hands and with His help, we can be fruitful.  Let’s explore the some key steps to fruitful living.

Set the atmosphere

In the parable of the sower (Matt 13:1-23), the seeds on good soil produced a crop.  Scripture explains the good soil is a heart softened from the hearing and understanding of His word.  When we come in contact with the word, God desires us to receive it with an openness that accepts it’s truth at its face even when we don’t understand it.  He wants us to be like children when we hear His word (Matt 18:3).  Our children just trust us. They simply believe that we will do what we say we will do without wondering how.  When we hear His word, He wants us to receive it in the same manner.  When we set the atmosphere of our hearts to accept His truths with expectation of His goodness to come, we begin preparing ourselves for fruitful living. 

A childlike mind can be challenging because our children in many ways operate with blissful ignorance unaware of the realities of life we know.  We have lived lives dotted with disappointment and hardened by hurts.  Fears and doubts make accepting the void between known and the unknown difficult to ignore.  As children of God, He is not asking us to ignore our realities or our doubts He is asking us to trust Him with them (Mark 9:24).  He is aware of the pains we have endured that have calloused our thoughts.  Trusting Him to handle past pains with His current love and tender kindness is the childlike faith He desires.  It is the faith that will break up the hardened spaces to prepare our hearts for fruitful living because the value inside the seeds within us cannot come through fully until what is covering them is broken through.  As we hear the word, we need to receive it as it is presented to us and then we need to take the next step and work to understand it. 

Seek understanding

Without understanding, the seeds from His word do not take root well allowing the heat of life to wash and wither it away.  To build a strong root system, we need to tend to our seeds by seeking understanding.  Seek Him for understanding by asking Him to show you the truths in them.  As we come to understand our scripture reading, we come to know Him better and align ourselves with His plans (Pro 2:1-21). Receiving understanding does not require extensive effort.  Although, we can use commentaries and seek wisdom from other leaders, we can also go straight to the source.  Pro 2:6, James 1:5 As we seek Him and meditate on His word, we remain in Him and He in us.  He stays on the fore front of our minds as we seek His revelation for our lives through His word.  The root of the word used for remain in this Proverbs passage is different from the one used in the John 15 passage.  In Proverbs, He is saying He will keep us in His land.  We will not be cut off.  In the John passage, we are told to actively stay, to remain in Him which He in turn says by doing this He will remain in us.  By thinking on the truths in His word, we remain in Him and His word remains in us.   We constantly water our seeds with His refreshing spirit. 

Ask and He’ll provide

As moms, we might not have time to do an extensive bible study and deep dive into every scripture but we have a God who will provide us with what we need when we ask Him.  By asking, we prepare our hearts for good soil to receive the seeds He has to sow. While driving, washing dishes or putting the kids down for a nap, we can think on the scripture(s) we read and ask God to show us what He would have us to take from it and how He would have us use this in our child’s lives or share it with them.  We should purpose to ask God to bring it to our remembrance through the day so we can see Him use it to light our path and learn more about how He can reveal Himself to us.  This way we remain in Him and He in us resulting in a fruitful life. 

Sow the seed: Fruit comes out of good soil.  The heart is the place where seeds are planted.

Nurture the seed:  John 15:4 Abide in Me and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.