Matt 3:8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
What does it look like to produce fruit in keeping with repentance? When a person repents they are turning away from their sin and turning toward God or godly behavior. When we repent and turn it is like planting a seed of correct action, or activity into the garden of our lives. That seed needs to be nurtured and nourished so that it can take root, grow strong, develop to maturity and then when it is mature, just like a fruit tree it can produce fruit. Some fruit trees may need to grow for several years before they are mature enough to produce fruit. In the meantime there is a struggle of sorts that goes on in the garden, a variety of elements have to come together in order for sustained healthy growth to occur. The right amounts of clean water, sunshine, warmth and nutrients from the soil all have to be consistently available for the plants to flourish. Then there are the weeds that sop up these things from the plants and also there are the birds and the deer etc that are lurking to consume these tender shoots even before they are anywhere near ready to bear fruit. So much care and nurturing and protection must go into the development of a healthy garden that produces a fruitful return.
Likewise our souls are also in need of nourishment, nurturing and tending to develop into maturity that has the potential to bear fruit. This takes time, patience, guidance and self inspection, it cannot be done by someone else only the individual can truly keep to the right course and develop maturity.
APPLICATION
I need to be careful of what thoughts I allow to come to rest in my heart. There are some that can be classified as weeds and need to be uprooted. Other thoughts are like nutrients and they need to be encouraged and amplified. Today I will ask the Lord to place a guard over my mind. I will memorize
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Welcome
One of the most effective ways to allow the Word of God to affect your life is to study it inductively. That is what this blog is all about. Typically one verse per day will be mined for insight and then followed up with how I plan to implement that insight practically. My prayer is that in some way you find this useful in your journey and that it may impact you positively. -G
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