Orchards of Fruit Gen 8:22, 9:1
You’ve probably heard lots of messages on the Fruit of the spirit, or heard about it in Sunday School as a kid. I bet you can say all 9 fruit of the spirit with me. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. These 9 wonderful fruit have been studied over and over, and they are worthy of further study! I love how the Message Bible talks about the Fruit. Here is how it reads:
What happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard – things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshall and direct our energies wisely.
I really like the thought of the fruit of the spirit compared to how fruit appears in an orchard. We have some beautiful orchards around the area where we live, and it is so thrilling to see trees laden with fruit in the early fall. My own trees have limbs that bend nearly to touch the ground with the weight of fruit that is ripening to perfection. The process of planting the seed, to the actual harvesting of fruit takes time. When you compare giving tithe and offerings to planting a seed, to get a continual harvest, we need to be continually planting. If we don’t want long periods of fruitlessness, we need to keep planting seeds. Good advice, and encouraging thoughts to be more fruitful for the long term.
Genesis 8:22-9:1
New International Version (NIV)
22 “As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.”
God’s Covenant With Noah
9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.
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