Where the good stuff grows (day 16)

And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Mark 4:8-9)

What is this fruit of which Jesus speaks? The apostle Paul gives us some suggestions that we will do well to honestly consider. Look at Galatians 5:22-23:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Some of these words are a little old fashioned for some but I must look at the ones I do understand. And then look at my own life. I can easily see room for improvement in these areas in my life. How about you

The good productive soil is not hard; it receives the Word of God gladly.

The good productive soil is free of rocks that will block the roots from reaching the place of true nourishment.

The good productive soil has the weeds of care and evil desires removed so it can produce fruit.

This is truly God’s will for each of us; that our hearts become fertile productive soil for his word to grow and produce much fruit.

Father of love and mercy, thank you so much for this word of hope. Your will for us is only exceedingly good. And you stand ready to be our guide and help to accomplish this overwhelming task that we could never even imagine without your guidance and aid. All praise and thanks to you always and to your son our forerunner. Amen.