Fruit Bearing Secrets

I have a love/hate relationship with my twitter.

When I first joined twitter world, I didn’t get it very much. Then I did. And I quickly became frustrated by the slow rate of growth in my number of followers.

I tried to be creative in ways to recruit followers. It helped a little. Until my numbers started dropping. It was a horrible feeling. I felt rejected, unloved, and pretty much like a loser. So I took some drastic measures to improve the state of my twitter and it worked. Now I’m happy (by the way, you too can follow me on twitter @Linamay).

The truth is that everyone likes fruit. If you invest money in the market, you expect a return. If you join a dating site, you expect a date or more. And if you plant a seed you expect a tree.

But more importantly, God likes fruit too.

In Luke 8:4-15, Jesus tells a parable of a sower who went out to sow seed in a field. The parable isn’t hard to understand. The seed is the word of God. The soil is your heart. The same seed is sown on every soil. Four different results are noted: No fruit at all, fruit with no root, fruit choked to immaturity, and lasting fruit.

Only the seed that resulted in lasting fruit is commended. Which begs the question: how do you become a fruitful Christian?

1. Give it time. You can’t force fruit bearing. You’ve got to wait for it. We live in a time where we can get anything right now. We can order anything anytime. We can talk to anyone anytime and expect a response just as fast. Not so with fruit bearing. You’ve got to wait patiently for it! Don’t judge the tree too soon. Don’t judge the vinedresser too soon.

2. Get rid of the rocks. Rocks keep the the seed from taking root. Without root, a tree will not grow. When the storm hits, or testing comes, that tree will fail. Do yourself a favor and get rid of the rocks.

3. Watch out for thorns. The thorns choke the tree and prevent fruit. Jesus compares the thorns to the cares and riches and pleasures of life. Is your heart set on good times and great riches? Beware. God’s way may not make you rich, but it will make you fruitful.

4. Obey what you know. In verse 15 we are told that the good soil are those who hearing the word hold it fast in an honest and good heart. You’ve got to hold fast to the word. The Book of James tells us to “be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving ourselves”. Are you obeying the word that has been sown in your heart? This is an essential part of fruit bearing. Obey what you know. There’s no other way to be fruitful.

5. Use your manure. Over in Luke 13:8 Jesus gives us another secret of fruit bearing. He tells of a vinedresser who digs around the fruitless tree and puts on manure. The more manure the more fruit. Check what stinks the most in your life and understand that God is using that manure to make you more fruitful. You may want to thank Him for your manure right now!!

6. Understand the exponential power of fruit. Luke 8:18 says this: take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” I bet you’ve seen this in your own backyard. The first year you plant a perennial you may be pleased to see a couple of flowers on your tree. But give it 3 or 4 years, and the odds are you’ll be trimming and replanting much of that tree. Fruit begs more fruit. It’s the same way with Christ honoring fruit. You just wait and see!

Are you a fruit bearing Christian?

I’ll leave you with one final thought: is all fruit good fruit? And if not all fruit is good fruit, what do you think God honoring fruit is?

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