Spiritual Fruitfulness
By Caron Cline
Burke County
The heat of summer has loosened its grip, making way for my favorite season, fall. The shadows are longer, the temperatures milder, and the air crisper and cleaner. Who doesn’t love Friday night high school football and cheering for the home team?
Throughout this season there are multiple opportunities to visit apple orchards and county fairs. Apple cider slushies, fried apple pies, cotton candy, kettle corn, funnel cakes, and saltwater taffy are among my favorite aromas. Fall festivals with their hayrides and corn mazes offer fun for all ages.
What a shame that this season passes so quickly as winter nips at its heels! Every season has its own unique qualities and characteristics as well as its own fan club. There is no possibility of advancing their arrival or delaying their departure. Each has a beginning and an end. In our surrounding counties, the season of planting and harvesting is limited, yet, as followers of Christ we are equipped to continually abide in a season of fruitfulness. Psalm 1:1-3 states that those who delight in the Law of the Lord, God’s Word, and meditate upon it, will be like a tree planted by streams of water. Believers will bear fruit in season, but their leaves will never wither and whatever they do will prosper. Delighting in the word of God speaks of a deep desire for His truth and a hunger and thirst for righteousness. Meditating on God’s Word speaks of soaking in His promises and appropriating them in every circumstance of life. Prospering from God’s Word speaks of growth and maturity.
Transformation occurs through intentional time focused on God’s truth, illuminated by the Holy Spirit. This change results in a perpetual season of fruit production. Galatians 5:22-23 lists the Spiritual fruit that will continually be produced throughout every season of life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
An added benefit is also mentioned in Psalm 92:12-14. “The righteous person will flourish like a palm tree; he will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courtyards of our God. They will still yield fruit in old age; they will be full of sap and very green”. A life planted, rooted, and grounded in God’s Word and the body of Christ is free from spiritual disease or blight. No winter wind can wither this tree. Enjoy each season of the year but live in the season of abundance by delighting and meditating on God’s Word daily, while also maintaining a connection to a local body of believers. For those who do, spiritual fruitfulness is guaranteed year-round!
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Caron is a follower of Jesus Christ and a member of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Morganton, NC. She loves to teach the word of God.
Her desire is to see every believer grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.
You can read more Christian News from Caron HERE.
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