SUMMERTIME FRUITS!
With it being summertime, some of our favorite fruits are in season. We LOVE to eat freshly picked strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, boysenberries...and don't forget watermelons, apples, apricots, peaches, pears and plums. Yum, yum, yum!! Makes my mouth water just talking about it!
We have many times gone peach picking and come home with our whole trunk full of those delicious little fuzz-balls, only to spend the next day or so afterward canning and jamming and making peach pies, peach butter, peach cobbler, peach whatever! It's quite the ordeal, and a lot of work. But we sure do enjoy opening our own canned fruit at the holidays, and the accomplishment of knowing it was our hard efforts that made those treats possible!
Did you ever stop to think how often the Bible uses words like Fruit, gardening, farming, sowing , planting, vines, watering, gleaning and such to describe our lives here and who we are, and what we are to look like and be like as God's People?
I wonder if God enjoys watching us grow and bear fruit in season, as the Bible talks about Psalm One. I'd almost bet He sits up in Heaven and oohs and aahs about our growth at every little stage!! I get so excited watching my plants grow, knowing that one day I'll get to eat what I planted-Just like a farmer rejoices at the crop- not just at harvest time, but each step along the way. First he sows the seed, then waters, then tends to them as they sprout and grow, carefully watching for anything that will come and destroy all of his labors, and finally after all that time of nurturing and tending, he is able to harvest the field or garden, and enjoy the fruits of his labors.
I think God is like that too. Can you imagine the smile on God's face when He sees His little ones struggle through a season of hardship, only to come out with some new and wonderful "fruit" on the other side of the pain and suffering. I'd even bet God cries when He sees our sorrow and hurts as we struggle along in our journey through this life. He really cares about all of the details in our lives. I learn so much more about God through gardening- He is the Ultimate Good Farmer!
Phil 1:6 says "He who has begun a good work in you will be FAITHFUL TO COMPLETE IT!"
Whatever you are going through, remember, God is faithful to complete the work He starts!
You are the plant that He is raising and tending...
He wants you to bear good fruit!
2 Th 3:3 "But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one."
Call out to God with all of your daily cares. He is a very good listener, and has your best interest in mind!
Col. 1:10 "And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord, and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God"
Are you bearing fruit for God this summertime?
Something to think about!
