My grandpa was that guy. Garden guy. He owned a house on a little city lot in Sturgis, Michigan, and for something like 40 or 50 years, he cultivated a garden. I loved picking fresh raspberries and strawberries when we went to visit. He also had grapevines, apple trees, and more. His garden was immaculate: carefully cultivated and bursting with fruit.
During the summer months at New Day, we will focus on the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These fruits grow in the carefully-cultivated lives of Jesus-followers.
The series is NOT geared toward imposing a burdensome religious obligation: “Bear more fruit!” The goal is to give us an inspirational vision for the amazingly fruitful life God has in mind for the people he loves—you who believe!
Don’t stress if the yard’s a mess right now. It’s okay. Give yourself to the work of Christ and make incremental progress as the Spirit leads you forward. He may ask you to pull weeds in the strawberry patch… or fertilize the raspberries… or prune the apple trees… You have the master gardener guiding your every move. Just keep your eyes and ears fixed on him and someday you’ll look back to see the amazing progress that was hard to notice along the way.
Did you know that summer-fruiting raspberries produce fruit a year after planting and develop their fruit on last year’s growth (almanac.com/plant/raspberries)? There’s a gap between growth and fruit. My experience with spiritual gardening follows this same pattern. The cultivating work of the Lord produces growth. It’s hard work and the benefit is not obvious to the untrained eye. But after a while, the hard-fought growth bears fruit. Only then can I look back and see that the fruit I’m currently enjoying was produced much earlier.
After seeing this pattern many times, I have tremendous faith to fill the gaps! If you’re in a time of tilling, planting, weeding, pruning, and tough cultivation… TRUST ME! DON’T QUIT NOW! Be rooted and established in Christ (Col. 2:7)! There’s bountiful fruit coming soon if you persevere.
My brothers and sisters… “Persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (Hebrews 10:36). You who believe have eternal life in Jesus, and as you keep in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25) your life will burst with spiritual fruit just like Grandpa Menser’s burst with raspberries on a little city lot in Sturgis.