Ready the Ground 5

Luke 6:43-45

When I was very young my mother had a small flower garden at the side of our front porch. One spring some showy plants began to sprout and grow, so she tended to them – watering them, fertilizing them and pulling the weeds around them. Soon they grew to be strong and hardy plants towering above all the other flowers in the garden.

Then one day a friend stopped by the house to visit. Since he was good at gardening my mother asked him if he recognized what type of flowers those big plants were. He did. Weeds.

We may consider ourselves to be good people when in fact we may be lacking in our spiritual goodness. We may think that we are good enough – not really bad people – when in fact there is room to improve in our faith.

What does Jesus say about the fruit that different plants produce? What does a good person bring to life? Where does this goodness come from?

It is plain from the parable of the sower and from this statement from Jesus that God desires that we produce goodness in our lives. If we will be good, holy and righteous people then that goodness will be in our hearts. And if there is holy goodness in our hearts, that goodness will flow out from us as the good spiritual fruit we are called to produce.

Goodness and holiness is not always an automatic thing with all people. We may not be aware of what is truly in our hearts. In our heads we may think we are good, but in our hearts we may be lacking the goodness God desires.

To accept the love and grace from God and then have that goodness grow and flow from us, we must tend our spirituality. We must prepare the soil of our souls to receive God’s goodness. And when we receive the goodness from God we must tend it like a garden, growing that goodness, increasing our ability to be holy and caring.

If we can live a life that more closely follows the teaching of Christ we can become the good people we should. And if we become those good people then that goodness will be the good fruit of love for others flowing out from the abundant garden of love within us.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you produce good fruit?