Fruitful - Are You?

Christine Parsons, a lady in our Grace Writers Group at Grace Church in Southern Pines, N.C., recently brought a basketful of fresh Sentry peaches to share among seven other folk attending our Wednesday night writers gathering.

Christine, in her early forties, works with her husband on their fulltime farm in Candor, N.C. They have two sons (one is in college) and a daughter, Katie, 16, who is also in our writing group. Their youngest child, Jacob, 13, operates a tractor and does lots of plowing, I hear.

At home, I tasted the juicy Sentry peaches. Those peach slices were music to my taste buds. A Sentry peach is a nice-size, firm, semi-freestone variety and one of the earlier maturing peaches; it has a red-orange skin. The Parsons family has other peach varieties that will mature later.

Summertime is a busy season for Christine. Her family has a produce stand, and she’s missed some writers group meetings, because crops are “coming in.” I’m sure her family spends lots of time caring for and pruning trees in order to see a good harvest.

Jesus talked about fruit. He said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 15:1-2 NIV).

Jesus also said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last…” (John 15:16).

One of Christianity’s core beliefs is that we were made to serve God by serving others, someone said. That means we are to care for those in our local churches and also to “bear fruit” by “giving ourselves away” in our communities and the world.

Jesus said, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:8).

James said, “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:17-18).

One writer says about fruit-bearing: “In John 15:5,8,16, Jesus says that a disciple must bear fruit, but he does not say what this means. From other passages, we learn that bearing fruit includes all a Christian does to the glory of God. In John 4:36 we read: ‘And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.’ Gathering fruit refers to bringing people to Christ. Notice the difference between bearing fruit and gathering fruit. All disciples are to bear fruit (do good works to the glory of God) but not all disciples gather fruit because ‘One sows and another reaps’ (John 4:37), but all rejoice together.”

Paul, writing to the Galatians, says about fruit, “So, I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit…The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like…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” (Galatians 5:16-23).

Joseph of Old Testament fame irritated his brothers by telling them of a dream he experienced. That dream indicated his brothers would bow before him. They sold him into slavery, and he was imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. He continued to trust God and was made second-in-command over Egypt.

When Joseph’s sons were born, he acknowledged God in their names. He called his firstborn “Manasseh,” saying, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household.” “Manasseh” is an Ancient Hebrew male name, meaning “causing to forget.” He named his second son “Ephraim,” saying, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering” (Genesis 41:51-52). “Ephraim” means “double fruitfulness.”

Later, Joseph’s brothers, looking for food during a famine, visited Egypt and bowed down to Joseph. Joseph forgave them for their sin against him.

Jacob, nearing the end of his life, said of his son Joseph, “Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall” (Genesis 49:22).

Today, be fruitful in the “land of your suffering,” and you may soon see your branches climb over walls that surround you.