You Reap What You Sow - Actions Have Consequences

Good morning. Greetings to each of you. A hello from Waynesboro, not far from here. I assume most of you know where that's at. It's a blessing to be with you here again this morning. We always value opportunities in our fellowship to interact with other congregations, and I always really value interacting with others as well. So really glad to be here. So I'm going to start this morning with a quick set of questions for the children, just to kind of illustrate a point that I have on my mind that I want to talk about this morning. So I'm going to start by taping a couple of pictures to the wall. I'm sorry, they're kind of small, so those of you in the back might not be able to see them really well, but this is just a chicken.

So hopefully you can see that that is a chicken.

Next, I have a big oak tree. So that's a big full-grown oak tree.

This is a sunflower for anyone who can't see it or doesn't know what it is.

Here's a deer. I believe it's a white-tailed deer, actually.

And one more here, and then I'm going to need the children's help with the next section of it. So this is just a butterfly, a monarch butterfly.

Over here with it.

All right, so there we have it, a row of God's creation. And now I have another set of pictures that are sort of the counterpart to these. Each of these either produces something or comes from something. So now it's the part that I want to ask the children. I'm not sure if you can see from where you're at what this is or not, but which picture on the wall do you think this goes with?

The sunflower. That's right. But are you sure that's always the case? Like, do you think I would ever get this is sunflower seeds. So would I ever get those from an oak tree?

You don't think that that could ever happen, like just by fluke or by accident, we would get sunflowers from an oak tree? I don't think so. So there we go. Have the sunflowers matched. What does this go with?

The butterfly. It's a caterpillar, but that isn't very obvious. I mean, it doesn't look at all like a butterfly does, does it?

All right.

How about that? Did you have one for breakfast this morning? A chicken? That's right. This goes with the chicken. But once again, are you sure about that? Like, will this always go with the chicken or could, like, maybe what if we would get a chick like this from a deer sometime? Do you think that would ever happen?

Oh, we have one guy here that believes that could be possible.

Unlikely.

What does that go with? The tree. This is an acorn. Goes with the oak tree.

And there's only one left, so you better hand get it wrong. That's a deer. Goes with the deer.

So the only point that I'm making is a very simple point that you all knew before I started making it, and that is the law of sowing and reaping. And that's what I want to talk about this morning is sowing and reaping. And the thing that intrigues me about this whole thing is that children just sort of innately, or instinctively, know how sowing and reaping works in the natural world. I don't think that I've ever sat down and told my boys, "Look, a deer will always make a deer, and a chick will always turn into a chicken and make more chickens." It doesn't. It's not just random. We don't just get a chicken from a deer or a butterfly from a tree or whatever.

It's each thing producing after its kind. So I think that children just sort of instinctively and innately, know that that is the way it is. But the thing is that when it comes to us as adults, it doesn't seem like we always are so aware of that as we should be, because this law of sowing and reaping is not just in effect for these physical things of God's creation. The scripture says just as much about the law of sowing and reaping when it comes to a spiritual sense. So that's what I want to talk about this morning is, are you remembering the law of sowing and reaping, and how is that playing out in your life?

What are you sowing today that you'll be reaping in the future? What are you reaping now that you sowed a while back? So let's look at what the scripture says about this pretty basic concept, but yet such a big concept and such an overarching concept. It covers basically all of life. So starting right at the very beginning in Genesis, reading from Genesis 1 verse 11, then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit that yields fruit according to its kind. Whose seed is in itself on the earth, and it was so." And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind. According to its kind means the same as the thing before it.

A deer makes a fawn. A sunflower makes sunflower seeds. It's after its kind. And God saw that it was good. Jumping down a bit, then God said, "Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens." So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves with which the waters abounded according to their kind. And it goes on. It talks about how he made the cattle and every creeping thing, each according to its kind. And it was so. God made the beasts of the earth according to its kind.

And God saw that it was good. And jumping a few more verses, it says, "Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves.'" Then when God saw everything that he had made, indeed, it was very good. So God says here in Genesis 1:1 that he made things after their kind, and he also gives them this directive to be fruitful and multiply. So this law of sowing and reaping is intrinsically linked with this idea of multiplying and growing. You're going to be growing in something.

You're going to be multiplying in something because you're either sowing to the flesh or you're sowing to eternal life. And so what is going to be abounding in your life? What is multiplying in your life? So I want to look both at the idea of sowing and reaping and also at the idea of growing and multiplying.

A little later in Genesis, we have another story about fruit, and it's sort of a story you can take two ways or it sort of has a double meaning to it. So Genesis 3:6, "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate it." So here's this tree producing fruit, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate it. So my question is, what was the fruit of Eve eating the fruit? What did she reap from eating what was produced?

God makes a promise in Genesis 8:22. This is after the flood, "While earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease." So it's very clear that it's well established in the beginning of scripture that this idea of reaping what you sow is set in place, and seed time and harvest will not cease until the end of the earth. So I want to look at a couple of concepts of sowing and reaping, a couple of different things that the scripture says about it, some laws of sowing and reaping is what I'll call it, that I think we should keep in mind when we're thinking about what we're sowing in our life.

So the first one, I've already touched on a good bit, just kind of in the foundation of things, but that is that we reap what we sow. The fruit is after its kind. The children obviously know that. I can't convince them otherwise. And it says that this is true in a spiritual sense as well. So we reap what we sow. Galatians 6:7, "Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that will he also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."

So it would be mockery to God if it didn't work the way we were talking about with these pictures. If you could actually get a chicken from a deer, that would be mockery to God. He didn't make it that way. God made an orderly universe. And be not deceived. Whatever you're sowing, that's what you will reap. If you're sowing to the flesh, you'll reap of the flesh. If you're sowing to the Spirit, you'll reap of the Spirit.

In 1 Corinthians 15:50, it says, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption." I read a quote that I thought was pretty good. It said, "Living a life of carnality and sin and expecting to inherit the kingdom of heaven is akin to planting cockleberries and waiting for roses." So what does your life say about what you're planting? Are you living a life of carnality and expecting to reap the blessing of Jesus' kingdom?

There's no way around it. Every time we choose an action, we also choose the consequences of that action. Our country is obsessed with freedom of choice and freedom to do whatever you want. And my response to that always is, that's fine. You can do whatever you want, but you can't choose the consequences of those actions. You can choose what you want to do, but you're going to reap what you sow. God has set that law in place.

The next law of sowing and reaping is that the harvest is in proportion to the sowing. It says in 2 Corinthians 9:6, "But this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver."

Jesus says in Luke 6:38, "Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." So the reaping is in proportion to the sowing. Kind of along the same line, but a little different thought is this idea of amplification. It's not just that if you sow a bunch, you'll reap a bunch, but in a lot of cases, you'll actually reap more than you sowed. And the scary part is this works both ways for both good and bad. The law of sowing and reaping is related to the law of multiplication, so that's why this idea of amplification exists.

That's how we're being fruitful and multiplying. God ultimately decides how much the harvest will be. We don't always get more than we plant, but as a general rule, that is the case. You can plant a corn crop and have a drought or whatnot.

So a few examples of this in scripture. Mark 4:30 says, "Then he said, 'To what shall we liken the kingdom of God, or with what parable shall we picture it?'" It is like a mustard seed, just a tiny seed, which when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on the earth. But when it is sown, it grows and becomes greater than all the herbs and shoots out large branches so that the birds of the air may rest under its shade.

The scripture is full of commands and directives to grow in our Christian life, and I would like to parallel that with this idea of amplifying. It says in 2 Peter 3:18, "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory now and forever. Amen." So we can't just kind of not sow anything and not reap anything. We need to be growing. We need to be moving.

Another law of sowing and reaping is that it works both ways for both the good and the bad. It's a pretty obvious statement, but once again, I think sometimes when we abstract it from the natural world, we forget about it sometimes. Obviously, if you go and plant thistle seeds along with your tomato plants in the garden, you're going to have a problem. No one does that. Nobody. But in a spiritual sense, a lot of people do that. They try sowing good seeds, doing good things, while at the same time sowing to the flesh, and they're shocked when the crop isn't what they were looking for. It says in Proverbs 11:18, "The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward."

Proverbs 14:14 also highlights this two-sided equation to it. "The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, but a good man will be satisfied from above."

Another principle of sowing and reaping is that sowing good seed over top of bad seed will not keep the bad from sprouting. I do want to say in that that God is merciful, and I'm going to talk about that a little later. There's balances to all this, but in general, sowing good seed over top of bad seed won't necessarily keep the bad seed from sprouting. There's a few passages in scriptures that I was looking at when I was thinking about this idea of sowing and reaping, and it almost looks like people are sowing one thing and reaping another. And for a bit, I thought, "What's going on there?" It seems like it's violating this law that God put in place, but I think it's actually based on this concept that you can't sow bad stuff and just ignore it and try sowing good things over top of it and expect the problem to go away.

In Proverbs 1:28, it says, "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me." So it sounds like they're trying to sow one thing and reaping another, but here's the reason. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would have none of my counsel and despise my every rebuke. Therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their own way and be filled to the full with their own fancies, for the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacencies of fools will destroy them. But whoever listens to me will dwell safely and will be secure without fear of evil.

So that's a bit of a grim situation, but it does end with a promise that whoever listens to me will dwell safely and will be secure without fear of evil. In Jeremiah 12:13, it says, "They have sown wheat but reap thorns. They have put themselves to pain but do not profit. But be ashamed of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the Lord." So once again, here's this idea. They're sowing wheat and harvesting thorns, but it's because they've already sown bad things that they're reaping for. Micah 6:15, "You shall sow but not reap. You shall tread olives but not anoint yourselves with oil and make sweet wine but not drink wine."

So I want to follow that right up with another principle of sowing and reaping, and that is that God's mercy can limit reaping. There is opportunity for repentance and forgiveness, but it is also his mercy that we ever reap positively. It says in Matthew 5:45, "You may be the sons of God of your Father in heaven, for he makes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." So at the end of the day, both the positive harvest and the negative one is a result of God's mercy. I think there's a good example of this in Hosea.

I'll read a couple of verses from God of different chapters. You can watch the story develop. So it says in Hosea 8:7, "They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind." So that's kind of this amplification idea. They're sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind. "The stalk has no bud. It shall never produce meal. If it should produce, aliens would swallow it up." And then a couple of chapters later, Hosea is saying, "Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap in mercy. Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord till he comes and rains righteousness on you. You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies because you trusted in your own way in the multitude of your mighty men."

And a few chapters later, he calls them back to God, and he says, "Oh Israel, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him, 'Take away all iniquity. Receive us graciously, for we offer the sacrifices of our lips. Assyrians shall not save us. We will not ride on horses, nor will we say any more to the work of our hands. You are our gods, for in you the Fatherless finds mercy.

I will heal the backsliding. I will love them freely, for my anger has been turned away from him.'" So God is a merciful God, but you can't presume on that mercy and willfully sow seeds to the flesh and expect God to just ignore that and look at the good things that you've done.

Another principle of sowing and reaping is that the reaping isn't always intuitive, but it is consistent. And if you want an example in the natural world, I would point to the caterpillar and the butterfly. That's not very intuitive. If you didn't study science and have a science book, you wouldn't find a caterpillar in the wild and say, "Oh wow, this is going to turn into a butterfly someday," if you were completely not exposed to that idea. So the reaping and sowing isn't always intuitive, but it is consistent. That same caterpillar will always produce that same butterfly. It's not going to suddenly, "Oh, this caterpillar can just magically turn into anything. It's going to suddenly be, I don't know, a bird the next time."

There's a couple of examples in scripture how in a spiritual sense, things aren't always intuitive. It says in Psalms 126:5, "Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." Another excellent example of this sort of unintuitive caterpillar and butterfly combination is the beatitudes. It says in Matthew 5:3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake." So that doesn't sound very intuitive. The meek shall inherit the earth. You would think that if you want to inherit the earth, you should get out there and be aggressive and make it happen.

Go start your own little battle somewhere, but that's not what it says. It says the meek shall inherit the earth. 1 Corinthians 13:3, "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned," sounds like good stuff to sow, doesn't it? "But have not love, it profits me nothing." So once again, it's not very intuitive. You would think that if you do all these great things, you should get a big profit, but in the flip sense, if you don't have love, you'll profit nothing.

There's an example of this in Corinthians. He says, "Moreover, brethren, we make known to you by the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia," and listen to this sort of conflict of thought here, "that in great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality." So in great trial of affliction, they had abundance of joy, and in deep poverty, they had riches of liberality.

Another principle of sowing and reaping that you should consider is that the reaping is not always immediate and obvious. Sometimes what looks like a harvest is not one. And I think the best example in scripture of this was Job and his friends. Job's friends obviously understood this idea of sowing and reaping pretty well. Eliphaz was sitting there visiting with Job, and he says, "As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it." So that's what he was saying to Job in the middle of his problems. He's like, "You know, pretty obvious to me what's going on. As I've observed, if you're sowing trouble, you're going to reap it." But Eliphaz was wrong.

Job was not reaping what he had sown. The harvest had not yet come, and it ultimately didn't come until the end of the story in the book of Job. So I'm saying that to say that just because you're experiencing negative circumstances does not necessarily mean that you've sown negative things.

So while the principle of sowing and reaping is generally true, it is not always at work in every situation the way you might expect. James 5:7 says, "Therefore, be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand." So the encouragement I would like to give you, if you think that you're trying to sow good things and you aren't seeing the harvest that you expect, be patient, wait on the Lord, and ultimately, you're laying up treasure in heaven.

So whether or not you see the harvest you're hoping to see here and now, you're laying up an eternal reward and eternal treasure. So you really don't know what your harvest is going or you can know, but you might not see the reaping for what you're planting until your story is finished.

So you might ask, "Why bother sowing if the harvest isn't always immediate and obvious? If it's not always intuitive, why bother? It sounds too complicated." But I like what it says about sowing and reaping in Ecclesiastes 1:1, "Cast your bread upon the water, for you will find after many days. Give a serving to seven and also to eight, for you do not know where evil will be on the earth. If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth. And if a tree falls to the south or to the north, then the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie. He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who guards the clouds will not reap, as you do not know what is the way of the wind or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child.

So you do not know the works of God who makes everything. In the morning, sow your seed, and in the evening, do not withhold your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both alike will be good."

So the phrase I was looking for there especially is that he who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. I would like to especially think about that in a spiritual sense and encourage you to sow to the Spirit. Whatever situation you're in, wherever you're at, whether it's morning or evening, sow to the Spirit, sow to eternal values and eternal things, and eventually, there will be a harvest. Don't sit there too long thinking about the weather forecast and what the wind is doing and what the clouds are doing in a figurative sense, or you'll always think that there's maybe a better time later to sow. I know I should do this or that, but I'll wait until later.

I'll procrastinate on it. It doesn't seem like quite the right time to do it. Sow good seeds now. Sow to the Spirit every day, every moment that you have. So that's everything I have on sort of the principles of sowing and reaping, but now I want to look a bit at this sort of other part of the equation of bearing fruit. If we're sowing things expecting to reap, that means that we as Christians expect to be fruitful people. We expect to have something to show for our—what is growing out of what you're planting. So I'm going to read just a couple of verses from John 15. You can turn there if you'd like. I'll be reading a little longer section.

Jesus talks about this idea of being fruitful and reaping in John 15 pretty—he talks about it pretty clearly and succinctly. So Jesus says, John 15:1, "I'm the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for without me, you can do nothing.

If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you will, what you desire, and it will be done for you." And verse 8 here is a verse that I really like. This is sort of the point I'm getting at here in this passage. "By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples. As the Father loved me, I have also loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I've kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.

These things I've spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full." Jumping to verse 16, it says, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you. These things I command you that you love one another."

So Jesus says that when we bear much fruit, we're glorifying the Father, as it said in verse 8, that we need to bear much fruit and so prove that we are his disciples. We're supposed to be planting and sowing to the Spirit, and that automatically means that we need to be producing fruit in our lives.

There's many verses in scripture that say clearly that we will be known by our fruit.

Jesus, once again, teaching Matthew 7:15, "Beware false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?" This is this idea of sowing and reaping. We know exactly how things get matched up. "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits, you will know them. Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" So it makes a very simple and clear statement here. Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. And the thing that I was thinking about when I read that is that I know in my own life, it's very easy and very sort of second nature that when I'm harvesting good fruit, it's because of my good management. It's, you know, yeah, I've worked for that.

I'm harvesting good fruit. But when we harvest bad fruit, it's tempting to blame that on other things and other circumstances. Well, you know, this person just didn't cooperate like they should have, or that person made me do XYZ, or I was in this bad situation. This was out of my control, whatever. We blame it on all kinds of other things, but Jesus simply says that we get good fruit from good trees and bad fruit from bad trees. So the point that I'm making, if you are reaping bad fruit in your life, you can't blame it on the circumstances and things around you. I'm going to be reading some verses about that a little later, but a good tree brings forth good fruit.

A bad tree brings forth bad fruit. It's a very, very clear thing. It says in Matthew 12:33, "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for a tree is known by its fruit."

If we don't bear fruit, we will be cut down. That's another thing that Jesus teaches in relation to this idea of being fruitful. Matthew 3:10, "And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

I want to look a little bit at some types of fruit that we should be bearing. I think that you can define fruit a lot of different ways, and a lot of these things are pretty common to us, but I just want to look briefly at what does this mean to be living a fruitful life. Obviously, the most common one is the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such, there is no law, and those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Colossians 1:10, "That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." Matthew 3:8 says, "Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance." I'll let you think a little bit about what that means. Bear fruits worthy of repentance.

James 3:14 talks about sort of two different kinds of fruit: fruit of the flesh and fruit of the Spirit. "But if you have bitter, envy, and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast or lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."

So are you sowing the fruit of righteousness in peace?

Ephesians 5:8, "For you were once darkness, but now you are in the light of the Lord. Walk as children of the light, for the fruit of the Spirit is all goodness, righteousness, and truth, finding out what is acceptable to the Lord."

So that's some of the fruit that we're looking for. I want to think briefly about sort of the process of bearing fruit. What does this look like? The first item I have is surrendering to Christ. It's a very obvious thing that I hope most of you are familiar with if you're familiar with the Christian life. You have to surrender your life to Christ if you want to bear fruit. And Jesus makes an analogy between planting seeds and this idea of surrendering to him. So John 12:24, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls from the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

Romans 6:20, "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now, having been set free from sin and having become slaves to God, you have the fruit of holiness and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 7:4, "Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that you should bear fruit to God." So if we want to be fruitful Christians, we need to surrender our lives to Christ. We also need to trust in the Lord, which is pretty closely linked, but there's some verses that talk about this idea of trusting God and being fruitful as a result of it. There's a section in Jeremiah 17:7 that I really like, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord, for he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river and will not fear when the heat comes, but its leaf will be green and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit."

Remember, I was talking about blaming your problems on other things and saying when your fruit is bad that it's just your environment and your circumstances. This says here that if you trust in the Lord, you'll be like a tree planted by the water, and you will not be afraid when the heat comes. This is an external circumstance, and you won't be anxious in the year of drought, nor will you cease from yielding fruit. So if you're anchored in God, your external environment and situation should not prevent you from bearing fruit.

Psalms 92:12, "The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age. They shall be fresh and flourishing." So for those of you that are older here, my question is, are you still bearing fruit in old age, and are you fresh and flourishing? That's a privilege you have. In a spiritual sense, it doesn't always work out that way in a physical sense. When I was younger, I grew up on a farm that had a few fruit trees on it, and they were getting pretty old.

And every year, they produce less and less and less. And eventually, they're barely worth maintaining anymore. But here's a promise that if we're planted in the house of the Lord, you shall still bear fruit in old age, and you shall be fresh and flourishing.

So if you want to be fruitful, remember that you need to stay connected to the vine. Reading a quote, it says, "When we neglect our spiritual life, ignore the word of God, skimp on prayer, and withhold areas of our lives from the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit, we are like a branch broken off the vine, and our lives become fruitless."

Another concept in relation to bearing fruit is that not all fruit will be the same. Each person is called to produce in their own ways. And here I'm thinking more of different gifts than I am thinking about the fruit of the Spirit, so to speak, Christian virtues. I'm thinking more about what you engage in your life. A poor widow in a one-room hut can bear as much fruit as a rich philanthropist if she surrenders her life to God in everything and uses everything she has for his glory. In fact, she might even be able to do more. Jesus teaches that with a woman with two mites.

Understand and appreciate each other as a brotherhood and know what for gifts they're contributing and what for fruit they're bringing. I think a temptation or a problem can be that if we have a strong point, if we're bearing fruit in a certain area, we can view everyone else through the same lens and hope that they're all or expect them all to be bearing fruit in the same way. Maybe I'm an evangelist, and I go out and hold signs and pass out tracks and have people flocking in the back door of church. And I feel like everyone else should be doing the same, but there's other people that are probably serving in different ways. As fruit is unique to each tree, our fruit is unique to us.

God knows what talents he has given you, and he expects you to be fruitful and multiply with those.

So a question that I want to ask you in closing is simply, what is the fruit of your life? And remember that it says in John 15:18 that Jesus is glorified when we bear much fruit. So I'm not just asking what the fruit is, but how much of it is there? Is there a lot of it? Reading a paragraph says, "One counterfeit to bearing good fruit is pretense. We can become experts at the routines, the lingo, and acting Christian while experiencing no real power and bearing no eternal fruit. Our hearts remain self-centered, angry, and joyless, even while we go through the motions of serving God. We can easily slip into the role of the Pharisees and judging ourselves by how we think we appear to others and neglecting that secret place of the heart where all good fruit germinates."

Did you hear that? The good fruit is germinating in the secret place of your heart. When we love, desire, and pursue, and fear the same things that the rest of the world does, we are not abiding in Christ. Even though our lives may be filled with church-related activity, then often we don't realize that we are living fruitless lives. So my hope for each of you is that that isn't true. I hope that you're living a fruitful Christian life and that you're bearing much fruit and remembering this law of sowing and reaping. What are you sowing at the moment? What have your decisions last week sown? What are you reaping right now that is the result of something you sowed a while ago?

And this concept works on a small scale and a large scale. You can look at any span of time you want. Maybe I have a grouchy wife or a salty wife today because I was impatient yesterday. Maybe I was impatient and rude as a husband, and so today my wife is feeling bad. That's sowing and reaping. Maybe looking at a bigger picture example, maybe my joints are hurting today because I've eaten junk food for the last 10 years. That's sowing and reaping as well. And so think about your life. The decisions you're making today are directly affecting the experience you'll have in the future.

And most importantly, what will your crop be in the final harvest? That's ultimately what is going to determine what the fruit of your life is. I would like to read Philippians 1:9 in closing, "And this, I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God."

Blessings to each of you.