Lately I have been thinking a lot about fruit. Not about eating it or cooking with it, although I thoroughly enjoy both! I'm thinking on a much larger scale - I've been thinking about bearing fruit.
In the book of Matthew when Jesus teaches using the parable of the seed and sower, we see three constants (the seed =the word of God, the Sower =Jesus, the Fruit =what is produced from the seed that was sown) as well as a variable (soil=condition of the heart).
What's not mentioned here is the seasons that occur prior to the development of the fruit. Jesus likely used this parable as a relatable picture to an agricultural community. Planting & harvesting was something they understood. They grasped the process of growth and understood that seasons were a natural part of the process.
My dad and his friends are farmers. I've watched as they tirelessly prepare the soil, plant the seeds, nourish the plants and eventually harvest a bountiful crop that feeds many. I've also watched as they've lost almost entire crops to drought, flood or harsh weather with nothing in return for all their hard work.
Personally, I've gone through some rough seasons in my life. There have been times where I feel like I am nothing more than a battered scrap of a plant struggling to stay alive during a drought or a hard freeze, and during those times, I'm certain I don't resemble a lush fruit bearing plant, but my roots are firmly planted and I endure. During those seasons, I felt weak and at times I felt that I wouldn't be strong enough to endure, but eventually the harsh season would pass and I would emerge stronger and more deeply rooted, ready to bear fruit.
While on a winter hike through the Minnesota woods recently, I stumbled across a barren sprig of a plant that appeared to be completely dead. When I looked up however, on the high branches of this dead looking plant were a few handfuls of uncharacteristically bright red berries that the birds were eating. The moment I saw this nearly dead tree providing food for the birds, I felt a sense of hope.
My moments of struggle, the weakness, the circumstances that left me battered seemed to make a little more sense as I realized that growth and fruit bearing occurs in seasons and in the end - the fruit that is produced is produced in due season for the purpose of nourishing someone other than the plant itself.
