Harvesting

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love,joy, peace, longsuffering,gentleness, goodness, faith,Meekness temperance:against such there is no law.”Galatians 5:22-23 Most of us like to see fruitfulness for our work. If we don’t expect compensation for our labor, why would we make an effort to obtain it? Reaping fruit is the reward for our labors. It’s what makes us get up and get going each morning. ...

“For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down,that it will sprout again,and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.”Job 14:7 Every year the wisteria, tangled in the brush on the other side of the railroad tracks, disappears into its winter dormancy and sprouts again in spring. And, every year, I forget and wonder how it can survive the cold, stark dreariness of winter to make it ...

"For as the earth bringeth forth her bud,and as the garden causeth the thingsthat are sown in it to spring forth;so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praiseto spring forth before all the nations." Isaiah 61:11 Excuse my natural giddiness. I’ve been dreaming of my spring gardens and caught spring fever. It came on all of a sudden, when the sun popped out and broke through the gray winter ...

“And the fruit of righteousness is sownin peace of them that make peace.”James 3:18 What we cultivate today determines tomorrow’s harvest. That’s why now is the perfect time to think about what we want to reap this fall. It would be nice if we could just coast through the year and see what happens. But, that “wait and see” approach pretty much guarantees fruitlessness. While fruit grows ...