HOW TO BE AN EFFECTIVE AND FRUITFUL CHRISTIAN (PART 1).
TEXT:
"The seed is the Word of God" ( Luke 8 verse 11, King James Version)
In our Christian walk, there's a whole lot of difference between Kingdom faithfulness and Kingdom fruitfulness. While as Christians we are enjoined to be faithful (see 1 Corinthians 4 verses 1 to 2), we have come to discover that so many of God's children are not fruitful. Yet, God demands fruitfulness from us. In the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, we discover that the servants therein referred were not commended purely on their faithfulness but on the score of their fruitfulness.
Faithfulness to God must amongst other things, always result in fruitfulness, especially in numerical growth. Actually, in that parable, the slothful servant was faithful, but wasn’t fruitful. He was faithful because he didn't waste his master's money. He kept it faithfully and handed it over when the master returned. The point is that though he was faithful, he wasn't fruitful and for this, he was derided and punished (see Matthew 25 verses 26 to 30). Again, we saw that Jesus cursed the fig tree that was unfruitful (see Matthew 21 verses 19 to 21). Likewise, Israel lost the Kingdom because they were unfruitful (see Matthew 21 verse 43). As Christians therefore, we must guard against unfruitfulness!
One ingredient that will make the Christian both effective and fruitful is the Word of God. In the Scripture reading for today, we are made to understand that the Word of God is Seed. You'll discover how amazing it is that your Christian experience and the success of it is as simple as taking the Word of God, sowing it in your heart and by deliberate diligence, letting it germinate and then nurturing it to produce in you what it talks about. Romans 12 verse 2 instructs us that our lives can be transformed (metamorphosed or changed) by the renewing of our minds by the Word of God.
Likewise, Joshua 1 verse 8 tells us how to achieve prosperity and good success in life by meditating on God's Word in order to "observe to do according to all that is written therein". Therefore, no Christian who desires to be effective and fruitful in life can afford to ignore the necessity of imbibing and meditating on God's Word!
In the parable of the sower, of the four grounds that the Seed fell on (representing the four different types and conditions of people's hearts), only the good soil bore fruits. In that parable, the Seed (God's Word) was constant and the variable was the condition of the soil (heart), not the God's Word. In other words, the Word is always the same, but the results are different because of the condition of each person's heart. Of the four different soils on which the Seed fell, only the good soil was fruitful.
But to possess a good heart in which God's Word will grow and flourish like the one in Luke 8 verse 15, doesn't just happen; it has to be cultivated deliberately. You'll notice in the aforementioned verse that patience as a Christian virtue has a great role to play towards fruitfulness. This is where many of God's children miss it.
Cultivating a good and fruitful heart that is receptive to God's Word takes a lot of time and effort and diligence, which many are not ready to invest in. This accounts for the numerous dull and non vibrant Christian lives we see all around us in Church today.
In order to be an effective and fruitful Christian therefore, you have to take good steps to meditate on and live by the Word of God you sow in your heart and as you do this, you're sure to find your Christian life not only effective, but filled with fruitfulness.
PRAYER:
Lord, henceforth, I take deliberate steps to prepare my heart for Your Word, believing and trusting that my Christian life will not remain the same, in Jesus name.