By: Jessica Huber

Today when we get tomatoes from the grocery store they are often hard and pale in color, the taste can be very sour. It’s because the tomatoes are rushed! They pick them before their time, just so they can withstand the travel to keep up with the Demand. It’s a quick fast world that teaches we can get what we want when we want it, just not necessarily high quality. We mass produce a bunch of undesirable junk, just so we can say it’s here for the taking. The tomatoes we get in the store will do in a pinch but they are nothing like fresh garden tomatoes, delicious  red and juicy! Definitely well worth the wait!

 
You can’t rush or force spiritual fruit either, you’ll end up with a bunch of hard hearted sour Christians that leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. It’s like the church saying hey we have Christians here and plenty of them! In reality if rushed or forced they don’t do any good for the Kingdom. They are not spiritually ready themselves, let alone ready to disciple those who are hungry for God.
The true message and purpose gets a pass all together  …nope don’t want any of that! The church is not a place of mass production. It’s a place of healing a place of development. If we would look at it as a “fruit market”, I’d say that we would want to make sure that the fruit that we send out into this world ideally, would be ripe and ready. Meaning that patience is a virtue. This fruit needs to be fertilized with Grace and Truth, with Kindness. With the Love and Compassion of Christ, Hand picked with His Gentleness and Sent out with Joy! That is what we should instill in our Brothers and Sisters, after all we need them if we want The Body to function as a unit.

Don’t forget to self check! Instead of focusing on what everyone else may or may not be doing right or wrong ask, what kind of fruit am I producing? What am I feeding to my fellow brothers and sisters? Especially those who are still hard and sour. Are we giving bitterness back or are we counteracting the negative by allowing the Holy Spirit to truly guid us. We need to remember the True Gardener and follow by his example. If a tree is not producing the desirable fruit then this is the evidence that the tree needs tended to. Don’t be too quick to cut it down. Dig around it, put some work into it.

Luke 13 :6-9
6And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.7“And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ 8“And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; 9and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”

Let’s not forget where good fruit comes from. It is ultimately from the workings of the Holy Spirit. It’s His stamp it’s the evidence of who we belong to.

John 15:4
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

You can not force someone to have a relationship with The Lord. That’s just not how it works, it’s not how He would want it.  But we can be sure to stay focused on Christ, read his word and make sure that the fruit that we are producing is of Him, so we can be better mentors. Get to know one another, reflect, encourage, and support through this walk. We can make sure that our own lives are being led by The Holy Spirit, allowing God to use us as his gardening tool. In other words, don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty and put a little work in as well.
This is not to dismiss or condone a life of unfruitfulness. This is a reflection on patience, humility and forbearance when it comes to our brothers and sisters. It’s important not to forget that it took a little time for some of us to go through our process. We are all still growing and refining in our daily walk with Christ.

May you hear the sound of His sweet voice. Let his love fill and overflow. Allow it to pour out onto others with no restraint.  God Bless This Walk, In The Name of Jesus Christ. 

I come to the Garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses

And He walks with me and He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known

He speaks and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing

And He walks with me and He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known

And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known
~ C. Austin Miles ~