"Where's the fruit?"
The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God's word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!" (Matthew 13:23 NLT)
This is the end of the explanation that Jesus is giving his disciples about the parable of the sower. The last group that receives the seed are those that bear fruit. The other three groups mentioned here do not. Something steals, chokes, or prevents the seed from taking root & bearing fruit.
What is alarming to me about this is the overwhelming majority of people that hear the Word of God do not bear fruit. It does not take root in their lives & therefore, it is like it had never been sown.
This is consistent with Jesus' teaching in other passages in the gospels. He says that narrow is the gate that leads to salvation & FEW find it. At the same time, broad is the gate that leads to destruction & many find it. So those that really know Jesus are in the minority. Even this passage goes onto say that many hear but do not understand, many see but do not perceive.
Therefore, the concussion is that many people hear the gospel & most of them reject it. This makes me tremble. Because this would have to mean that many people that claim to know Christ simply don't. Maybe they heard the Word & rejoiced but the Word was chocked by the worries of life. Maybe they heard the Word & had it stolen by the enemy. Maybe it became inconvenient for them & so it proved unfruitful. Whatever the case, Jesus is teaching here that those that follow him are in a definite minority.
This should cause us to check our hearts. It should cause many of us in the religious south to test ourselves & see if we are in the faith. And the test of that is fruit. Are we bearing fruit? That is what Jesus says is the mark of someone who knows him & receives his Word. So, where's our fruit?
No comments:
Post a Comment