FERTILIZER
Dear reader, today I am writing from my heart about God’s Word, which is true and active and let us say thank You to Him for His Word and the fact that He have equipped us in every way, for every challenge, by giving us His Word and sharing His heart with us.
“Oh God, thank You for never failing us. Amen! As we read Your Word, seeing Your heart unfolding, showing us who You are and what You want from our lives, we continue to stand in awe of who You are. Amen! You are our faithfulness, Your promises are real and still stand. Our confidence is and remains in You!
John 15:16 says: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.” Reading this Word, it is very clear that God Himself, chose us, saw us worthy to be His children and to be part of and work for His Kingdom. The thought and reality of that is simply overwhelming, that the God of Heaven and earth have chosen us. Thank You Lord!
Luke 13:6 – 9 says: “Then He told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So, he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
Looking at these two passages from the Word of God, it made me realise once again that the fig tree resembles us. God gave us, as His Children, a clear instruction in Matthew 28:19 – 20, to go and make disciples of all nations. How do we do that? Firstly, we need to have a personal relationship with Jesus, for without His victory in our lives and the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are not able to do this. Neither will we believe that it must be done, for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom 10:17).
Then, we need to remember that we have been chosen (John 15:16) and that we can do everything through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). This brings me to the passage of Luke 13:6 – 9. You see, when we accept Jesus, we are His “fig tree” and as longs as we are tapped into Him, our “roots” will drink up the right water, producing beautiful green “leaves,” which will attract “birds”. However, to God, this is not enough. He clearly tells us in John 15:16 to bear “fruit”, and not just any “fruit”, but “fruit” that will last. The aim for any famer, is to have his fruit trees bear good fruit, the best fruit, fruit that will last, for that is the fruit from which he makes the best money, increasing his profits and ultimately increasing the profits of a nation, through exportation.
How then do we produce the best “fruit”, the “fruit” that will last? Well, when we continue to read the passage in Luke 13:6 – 9, we read how the farmer wanted the tree cut down, but the man who worked in the vineyard, asked for one more year. He indicated that he wanted to fertilize the tree and if then by one more year, it did not produce fruit, it could be cut down. The message here for me, is the importance of the fertilizer. You see, it is not just important, it is everything in producing “fruit” that will last. Yes, with just the water, you could bring forth “fruit”, but not necessarily fruit that will last and God is looking for “fruit” that will last.
What then will be lasting “fruit”? Well, for me, it means that as disciples of God, we go out and shine for Christ, by living a good and humble life and those are the “birds” we attract to our fig tree because others look at us and want what we have. That is good, but God wants more. Bearing “fruit” for me, means that you give more of yourself and produce a crop. Perhaps it is the service you give by helping others, prayer groups etc, which means you have confidence and boldness to share the gospel. That is even better than just attracting people. Again, God wants more. He wants us to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19 – 20). How do I, a single person, or even us, as a group or church, do that? I mean, we must go to all nations yes, to reach them? We will do that, by producing “fruit,” that will last, the kind that can be exported.
When we are saved in Christ, tap from His living water and serve Him through our service and drawing people to us, we need to move to the next phase. We need to bring people into the Kingdom, get them to not just like the gospel, but to physically make the decision to give their hearts to Jesus and then to fertilize them and teach them through God’s Word, coaching and mentoring, to go out into the World and make other disciples for Christ. You see, it was never intended for us to just work alone. No, we are one body and connected in the Holy Spirit. We need to be missionaries, evangelists, prophets and teachers of the Word of God, taking hands across the world. This then, spreads like wild fire and that fire, is the fire of the Holy Spirit, which dear reader, can never be put out. Hallelujah!
We need to understand that the Word of God, is our fertilizer and if we want to produce “fruit” that will last, we need to read, study and implement the Word of God. After all, we read in Ecclesiastes 1:9: “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” If we want to know God’s heart, His plan, His purpose for us and our role here on earth, what we need to do and how we need to do it, we need to be fertilized by His Word and guided by the Holy Spirit. The more you read and execute the Word of God, the more you are fertilized and the more lasting “fruit” will be produced, on a continuous basis.
Dear reader, lesser fertilization, lesser lasting “fruit”. No fertilization, none or no-lasting “fruit”. God does not want us to be fertilized, once a year, once a month or just once a week. No! He wants us to be fertilized, daily, so that we can go and bear “fruit,” “fruit” that will last; and with that, we will live up to His instruction, to go and make disciples of all nations.
Love in Christ, Princess K