Recently, a friend asked me a question. She was wondering why she felt like she was not bearing any fruit in this season of her life. She wants to bear fruit. She longs to bear fruit – the mark of a passionate Christian.
As I asked the Lord what to tell her, I was reminded of the 4 seasons that God ordained to order our years. And in the four seasons, I saw a picture of our lives.
In autumn, the old, over-ripe fruit has dropped off, and most gardeners know to prune the tree in preparation for more fruit in the coming harvest.
Then there is winter, when the life inside is there, but dormant and quiet -
in preparation for the fruit that is coming again next summer.
In the spring, flowers bud in preparation for the fruit to come.
Then it's summer again - and if the tree has been properly pruned in autumn and cared
for in winter, it produces even more fruit than it did the previous season!
So it is not that one is slacking or unproductive, it is that there is a
process that our lives go through. Each season is important.
Autumn is like a season of repentance when the old is removed so that the
new can come.
Winter is like a season of renewal in the Word where we are quietly and
faithfully preparing our hearts and rebuilding the things that God had to
remove - rebuilding them according to His Kingdom and not our own flesh.
Spring is like a season of hope of the new fruit to come - of joy, knowing
that the Lord has done a work and is preparing to produce fruit through us.
Summer is our season of fruit-bearing and harvest.
John 15 says it well… Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
