Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. Spring has sprung in Virginia, and things are beginning to bloom. Before you know it, the trees and everything around this farm will come to life…and I can’t wait. As I sat before the Throne of a Mighty God this morning, He used the fields around this old farm to remind me that you “reap what you sow” in Life – especially when it comes to the Heart. There are lots of things that go into the making of a green field that will be rich for harvest one day soon, and there’s a whole lot that has to go into me too if I want to be Rich for Harvest and a Vessel that can be used by God. It’s understanding what it takes to grow the Good Fruit that makes all the difference in the End Result. Isn’t that the way you look at your Life, too?

Plenty of trees around the farm will bud out soon, and lots of them weren’t planted here by man at all. Nature did the planting, and God did the Nurturing, and somehow, without any help from me, they thrive year after year. There is plenty of green in the fields near the farm, too, and when it’s left to grow, it will soon be harvested for horses and cows. But farmers don’t just cut down long grass and weeds to feed to their herds…at least the good ones don’t. They do their part to nourish the soil, too, so that what grows in the fields is rich, abundant, and healthy for the herd.

God makes sure to water the fields, and He brings forth the sun to help it grow. But without a little effort on the part of the farmer, what is produced out of the field would be of little use to him and his herd at all…and the same is true for you and for me. God is always ready to do His Part to grow us into Vibrant Vessels for Service, but He won’t do all the Work it takes to get there. We have to be sure to add all those other things it takes to grow nourishing Fruit that is rich, abundant, and healthy too. IF we do nothing to ensure that we produce Good Fruit, all we can expect to grow is weeds. If “weeds” are of no real benefit to a farmer, what good are Weeds when it comes to the Living God? He doesn’t just want “green” sprouting up uncontrollably…He wants GOOD fruit that will be beneficial to His Flock, too… and it takes a little work to achieve that.

Weeds are strong and resilient, and they aren’t easily controlled. Weeds can grow in every nook and cranny, and weeds grow like wildfire. Some weeds are pleasing to the eye, and if we don’t know the difference, we’ll easily mistake a weed for a flower. But it doesn’t take long to see that the weed doesn’t produce the fragrance of a real flower at all, and it cannot Produce Good because of it. Weeds grow in every direction with no rhyme or reason, and when left unattended, they can snuff the life out of whatever good stands in the way…and so it is with people of Faith. When people of Faith become lazy and refuse to do their part to Grow Good, they invite the weeds to take up residence in the Heart, and eventually the weeds will consume the Good in them, too. When the weeds take over in a person of Faith, they end up doing a whole lot more harm than Good in the process, and they have the potential to snuff the Life out of whoever stands in their way, too. It doesn’t take any effort on our part to grow weeds. Anybody can do that! But growing Good Fruit is an entirely different story. Just like the farmer…it takes nourishment, and hard work, and diligence, and commitment, and determination to do whatever it takes to Produce Good fruit that will bring about Good things in His Flock.

I may not be able to control all the weeds around this old farm, but I CAN control the weeds in my Heart, and when I do my Part, God ALWAYS does His. I’m doing my Part to be sure that my Life is filled with Good Fruit so that I can be pleasing to the King AND used by Him to do Good for as long as there is breath in my body.

How about you?

By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, by their fruit you will recognize them. Matthew 7:16-20