Producing Fruit? | AllWorship.com

Is your life producing fruit?

Some produce bad fruit. Some even produce rotten fruit. Others produce fruit that, while not fully rotten, no one really wants, or that is unappetizing. A few even produce toxic fruit!

What kind of fruit should we be producing? Jesus speaks of this in today’s Scripture passage. We should be producing the kind of fruit that comes from the seed of God’s word sown in our lives.

This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing, they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. (Luk 8:11-15 NIV)

To continue the metaphor of this parable, I would also ask what kind of soil you are in comparison to the imagery Jesus presents. Are you good soil? Rocky soil? Or is what is sown in you crowded out by other things that are not productive or not conducive to a good growing environment?

If you are not producing the kind of fruit you want to see, what can you do? I have some ideas. Since Jesus says in verse 11 that “The seed is the word of God,” let’s begin there. There are some universal ways the process works, and I will share some of those with you. Are you ready?

Get your Bible. Read it. Begin with today’s passage and go on from there. But don’t just read it and then put it down. Read it over multiple times. Read it, meditate on it, and ponder on it. Consider it deeply and carefully, allowing the Holy Spirit to give you insight into its meaning.

This is a way to begin to become good soil. Be a fertile growing environment for God to make His word come alive within you. This is a process, always a process, and it works like this:

If you quickly scan Scripture, though you will retain it in your awareness for a short time, it will quickly fade. If you read it multiple times, retention will be a bit longer, but eventually, it will fade as before. These do not produce roots. If, however, you meditate on it, ponder it, memorize it, pray about it, pray according to it and in agreement with it, and enable the Holy Spirit to give you insight, something remarkable begins to happen.

Doing the latter enables His word to begin to be imprinted onto your spirit, the deep part of you where God interacts with you. This is the critical point at which it can begin to take root and become alive in you. From this rooted (imprinted) point, the Holy Spirit in you can use it to begin to transform your life. And this is the point at which you become good soil.

Make it your intention to become good soil–soil in which a seed was sown and produced a good, nourishing, and abundant crop. This is available to everyone. No one is excluded. The difference between those who produce and those who do not is their choice.

As I close, just for your information, verse 11 of today’s passage is where the title of this message, Today’s Seed, is taken. When I began this ministry (E-MIN) in 1997 and then in 1998 published the first Today’s Seed message in the form in which it is today, this was my heart, purpose, and passion for doing so: To sow the word of God in lives every day.

I understood then that a seed has life in itself, and it would grow where it was sown. This is true in spiritual things as well as natural seed. I knew it would be so IF those who receive it would ALLOW it to be so.

Now, almost three decades later, it has produced a great harvest for which I am deeply grateful. And now, my friend, dear reader, it is up to you. Take the seed of God’s word and let it produce the harvest in your life that God has in His heart for it to be for you. It is His seed, His word, and His vision. All I have ever done is sow it. Thank you for allowing me to be part of your life in this remarkable way.