Stop trying to be more fruitful

Do you want to bear fruit? I know I do.

Sometimes though, I see it as my job to make sure that it’s growing.

I worry that I’m not serving God enough or doing the things that I should be doing as a good Christian. I think that unless I’m serving Him in some tangible way, I am obviously not a fruitful believer, and therefore I am less pleasing to Him.

Then I start to think about how I can fix this - perhaps get involved in a new ministry of some sort, put more effort into the external things that people will notice or try to live a more ‘godly’ life.

Sitting in the garden as I ponder this, I am struck by our vegetable patch opposite me.

I’m very proud of the few vegetables that we planted almost as ‘experiments’ (my husband will tell you that I’m sadly not very green-fingered). We dug a bed especially for vegetable growing last year, added compost and leaves to ensure good soil matter and my two-year-old has been very faithful to water the plants every evening.

And do you know what has happened?

To my amazement, tiny beans, courgette seeds and tomato seeds have grown into whopping plants that have outgrown the poles we erected for them!

The space we allotted for them all is almost too small as huge leaves grow by the day (every time I look at them I think they’ve grown!).

We are watching very excitedly as the plants flower and the day that we spotted a plump green tomato was an exciting day indeed! It won’t be long now before we have a bumper crop of beans, courgettes and tomatoes…and won’t know what to do with them all!

As I looked across at my plant babies, I realised something significant. They are not striving to grow fruit. And I’m not striving to make them grow fruit either.

No, we have simply ensured they were planted in the right conditions, tended to the ground, watered them faithfully and we’ve been blessed with a lot of sun in the UK this summer.

And as a result, fruit is beginning to grow.

Perhaps this is obvious to you - especially if you’re a seasoned gardener - but it has come as a powerful reminder to me that I am exactly the same as these plants. I do not have to strive to bear fruit for God. No amount of effort or work I put in amounts to anything fruitful if I’m doing it in my own strength.

Instead, I need to be seeking Him for the things that will lead to fruit:

Soil.

Light.

Water.

Soil

Jesus talks about our hearts being like soil frequently throughout the gospels. Perhaps the most well known of these is the parable of the sower (Matt 13) who sows seeds which fall on different types of ground and in different conditions. Some falls on bad soil and for various reasons it never grows or produces fruit, whilst other seed falls on good soil and produces an abundant harvest.

This story is a powerful reminder that we can’t just expect fruit to grow in our lives. In order to be fruitful, the seed of the Word has to fall on good soil - soil that is soft, free of weeds and full of nutrients. The sun will come up and so it needs to be planted in ground that has depth. Then it needs to be watered and tended to constantly. Weeds will continually grow up and threaten to choke it or deprive it of the nutrients.

With all of this care and input, fruit will naturally start to grow.

In the same way, we need to tend to the soil of our hearts. We need to keep them soft, allowing them to be washed by the water of the Word (Eph 5:26) and remove sin that threatens to choke the Word.

Light

Plants also need light. I recently learned that when a plant does not receive sufficient sunlight, it will initially stretch out its leaves in a desperate search for it, but eventually it will start dropping them before finally dying. (Sadly, I have learned this the hard way by having put too many plants in a dark corner…)

The Bible exhorts us to talk in the light (1 John 1:7; Rom 13:12; Eph 5:8-9). Light is a recurring theme throughout the Bible which is contrasted with darkness. If we are walking in darkness, we are walking in sin (John 3:19; John 11:10). Plants that are in darkness cannot bear fruit (or even sustain their leaves), and in the same way, if we are walking in darkness we cannot bear fruit or grow as a believer.

It is essential that we bring our lives into the light, walking in fellowship with other believers, rather than hiding in the darkness.

Water

And finally, they need water. In the Bible, Jesus talks about being living water (John 4:10). The Word of God is also described in this way (because Jesus is the Word of God!). In the same way that plants die if they are not watered, we cannot expect to bear fruit if we are not in His Word, fellowshipping with Him on a daily basis.

As humans, we have a need - a thirst - that nothing else can satisfy. As much as we seek the things of this world to quench our thirst, they will always run dry, just as Jesus explained to the woman at the well (John 4:10; 14; John 7:37-39). We’ll have to keep coming back again and again because we are not satisfied.

But Jesus offers us living water that will never run dry and that springs up within us (John 7:37-39). Without regular time with Him, receiving refreshment and being filled again with His Spirit, we will wither - but when we have time with Him He will always satisfy us.

So, with all this in mind, let's consider whether we are striving to produce fruit in our own strength. Maybe we’re pushing ourselves, working hard, trying our best to please God but feeling as though our lives still feel slightly empty.

Instead of taking on the responsibility of growing fruit (which Jesus said is God the Father’s role as the Vinedresser - John 15) - we are called to ensure that our hearts are soft, good soil, that we are living in the light and coming to Him regularly for water.

One will produce exhaustion, disappointment with ourselves and very little fruit, and the other will result in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control…which is the kind of fruit that grows naturally when we are walking in the Spirit!

Let’s be women who are rooted in Him, filled with Him and pleasing Him by the fruit that comes from a deep relationship with Him

Eshet Chayil

Encouraging women to trust God fully, obey courageously and live wholeheartedly for Him.

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