BEAUTIFUL FRUIT

Beautiful Fruit

The seed is the word of God.

Luke 8:11

READ LUKE 8:4–8, 11–15

“Kids should be able to throw a seed anywhere they want [in the garden] and see what pops up,” suggests Rebecca Lemos-Otero, founder of City Blossoms. While this is not a model for careful gardening, it reflects the reality that each seed has the potential to burst forth with life. Since 2004, City Blossoms has created gardens for schools and neighborhoods in low-income areas. The kids are learning about nutrition and gaining job skills through gardening. Rebecca says, “Having a lively green space in an urban area . . . creates a way for kids to be outside doing something productive and beautiful.”

Jesus told a story about the scattering of seed that had the potential of producing “a hundred times more than was sown” (Luke 8:8). That seed was God’s good news planted on “good soil,” which He explained is “honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest” (v. 15 nlt).

The only way we can be fruitful, Jesus said, is to stay connected to Him (John 15:4). As we’re taught by Christ and cling to Him, the Spirit produces in us His fruit of “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). He uses the fruit He produces in us to touch the lives of others, who are then changed and grow fruit from their own lives. This makes for a beautiful life.

By Anne Cetas

REFLECT & PRAY

I want a beautiful life, Father. Please produce Your fruit in me that I might live a life that points others to You.

How are you staying connected to Jesus? What fruit do you want Him to produce in you?

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

When Christ’s disciples asked Him to interpret the story of the sower (Luke 8:9-10), He first quoted from the prophet Isaiah to explain why He spoke to the crowds in parables (Isaiah 6:1-10). As in the days of Isaiah, Israel still wasn’t ready to recognize the kind of good news they needed. While looking for political relief and material prosperity, they couldn’t imagine a rescue and kingdom found in the mercy and love of a rejected Messiah—and in a harvest of peace, joy, and goodwill that would grow in and by His Spirit. Mart DeHaan