Fruitful Faith (Part 4): Bear Fruit
This week we're exploring Jesus' parable of the sower, focusing on what makes 'good soil' that bears lasting fruit. Each day examines a different element from Luke 8:15.
"But as for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance." - Luke 8:15
Bear fruit. As always with our faith, there are effects.
This isn't a stagnant or sterile faith. There are fruits, offshoots and new growth.
But here's what strikes me: the soil doesn't decide what kind of fruit to produce. The seed does that. The soil just provides the conditions for growth.
We're not in charge of manufacturing the fruit. We're in charge of creating the environment where fruit can grow.
Sometimes we get so focused on what our spiritual life should produce—what we should accomplish for God, how we should change the world—that we forget our primary job is just to be good soil.
When we've received the word with rich soil, embraced it with open arms, and shared it with generous hearts, the fruit comes naturally. Not because we've forced it, but because that's what happens when God's word takes root.
The fruit might look different than we expected. It might grow slower than we wanted. But it will come.
Because that's what living things do. They grow. They reproduce. They create new life.
Our job isn't to manufacture the fruit. Our job is to stay connected to the source.