Fall and harvest time is here.
Now that I am retired from full-time medical practice, I am drawn back to my farming roots. When I see a grain combine out in a ripe field of grain, I am so tempted to volunteer to drive it! The smell of barley triggers pleasant memories of my youth.
We grew a garden this summer, the first time since our kids were little. An awesome crop. Enjoying healthy kale salads!
This post is a fall kickoff to celebrate harvest with an agricultural theme – a fruitful harvest.
I am entitling it “FIT for LIFE.”
“FIT” has a double meaning—just as it says—being physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually fit or in good shape for a “good long life.” And, it’s an acronym (each letter stands for something to remember) with deeper meaning and practical implications. We will unpack the meaning hidden in the acronym in the coming posts.
“F” is for “fruitfulness.”
Both my wife and I were farm kids. Our dads were dairy farmers. My brothers were potato growers and my wife’s brother is an apple grower.
To be a successful farmer, one must produce. Lots of milk, or potatoes, or apples. Etcetera. Being “fruitful.”
Many ancient sages and philosophers have likened a human life to the agricultural theme of “fruit-bearing.”
The proverbs writer penned, “A good life is a fruit-bearing tree; a violent life destroys souls.” (Proverbs 11:30)
The writer of Psalm 92 wrote, “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree … they will still bear fruit in old age.” (Vs 12, 14)
Jesus himself, although not a farmer, frequently used agricultural examples as teaching metaphors. In John 15 He said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (Vs 5)
More recently, in the 1600’s, English author John Bunyan wrote,
“If my life is fruitless, it doesn’t matter who praises me, and if my life is fruitful, it doesn’t matter who criticizes me.”
John Bunyan
My challenge this fall is that you may overcome whatever your barrier is to being “fruitful.”
What is fruitfulness?
The obvious meaning of being fruitful, or bearing good fruit, is to use your God-given gifts and abilities to say, do, and create good things. Things that build up and are “food” or nourishment to your own and other’s souls. That leaves your corner of the planet better than before.
The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians expands the concept of fruit-bearing where he lists the “fruit of the Spirit:”
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Galatians 5:22, 23 NLT
Notice that this list starts with love.
Back to Jesus’ teaching on the vineyard in John 15, he links the whole idea of growing good grapes to loving well: “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” John 15:11
It comes down to loving others selflessly.
The ability to love, even enemies or people that have hurt you, is the ultimate goal of growing spiritually into a mature follower of Jesus, and bearing fruit for a lifetime and for eternity.
And here is the rub: We can never do that in our own strength.
That is exactly the point of Jesus’s comment in verse 5: “Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 NLT)
And that’s why 12 step programs (like AA and Celebrate Recovery) encourage us all to reach Up for Strength From On High.
Next time we will explore the “IT” of FIT (hint: the I stands for “In”) and learn from our farmers what the barriers to a good crop are, and what lessons we can apply to our own hindrances to fruitfulness.
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Fighting for FIT citizens and sustainable healthcare,
