The Kingdom of God is like “the earth produces by itself.” Jesus identified the earth as the hearts or lives of people. There is good earth for producing fruit; and there is bad earth for producing fruit. There is only so much a farmer can do. He can plant seeds. If the soil is good, it will produce fruit. If the soil is bad, it will produce nothing.
It is god’s desire for his family to plant seed and produce fruit. If we plant, and no fruit is produced, what then?
We can decide that the production of fruit is completely out of our hands. It is entirely in God’s control. So, if there is no fruit, God did not want it? Or his timing was off? If this is true, all we, as his family, can do is to continue to plant. And wait for God to act. This story is about the mystery surrounding fruitfulness.
Some people look at the story and conclude that the earth contain everything for fruit. All we need to do is plant the seed. But planting cannot be construed as a simple throwing of seed. Consider Jesus’ instructions to the seventy.
• Go in teams.
• Pray for workers.
• Seek the man of peace.
• Live among the people.
• Heal the sick. (Or serve to meet needs.)
• Proclaim the kingdom. (As Jesus was coming, this proclamation was in preparation for his appearance.)
• Go to specific cities. (The ones he was going to.)
The planting that Jesus prescribed was not haphazard or unplanned. It was intentional with particular steps and aims.
No comments:
Post a Comment