God blessed them and said, "BE FRUITFUL!"

Good Seed Planted in Good Soil Always Bears Good Fruit

A few years ago we added an addition to our house.  My son headed a crew of skilled craftsmen who created a living space that is solid, comfortable and beautiful.  

While the crew worked on the addition, we continued to live in the house and enjoyed sharing our lives with them during the several months that it took to complete the project.  

So when they packed up their tools and moved on, we had mixed emotions.  We couldn't wait to move into the beautiful new space they had created, and we did not miss the buzz of saws and the sawdust that was tracked through the rest of the house.  But we did miss the guys on the crew.  They had become part of our family and we hated to see them go.

A couple of years after the project was complete and the crew had moved on, we were amazed and surprised to find a gift left behind by one of the workers... He left us a plum tree!

He didn't ask if we wanted the tree or even if we liked plums.  But, without knowing it, when he gnawed on a plum one day and tossed the pit along side the driveway, he planted a plum tree in our yard.  I noticed the tree two years later when it's young branches were weighed down with plums.

God Has Planted Good Seed within You... So Be Fruitful!

You may not have realized it, but when you began to follow Jesus, the seeds of his Spirit were planted in the soil of your soul.  The seeds of the Spirit produce the fruit of the Spirit.  Here's the fruit list the Apostle Paul provides in Galatians 5:22,

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

When you and I signed on to follow Jesus, God planted the seeds of his Spirit in the soil of our souls so we could bear the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

If your branches aren't exactly loaded with love, joy and peace, hang in there. The seed is good and good seed always produces good fruit.  But the seed needs to be planted in good soil and regularly watered.

How's your soil?  Here's a helpful hint from the prophet Hosea:

Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you (Hosea 10:12).

And what about your water supply?  Jesus promises to provide a regular supply of living water.  But we need to regularly go to the spring and drink:

Is anyone thirsty?  Let them come to me and drink.  For, as the scriptures say, rivers of living water will flow from within all who believe in me (John 7:37-38).

Plowing and watering the good seed God has planted can be tiresome work, so here's a fun song to sing while working the soil of your soul.