Sunday Sermons
A Productive Life
A Productive Life
As one reads the New Testament there is definitely an emphasis on being productive or fruitful in reference to serving God, growing spiritually and helping others:
- The good and honest heart is liked to land that produces a crop one hundred times as great (Luke 8:8).
- “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (John 15:8).
- “To be ready for every good deed” (Titus 3:1).
- “Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful” (Titus 3:14).
What if each one of us issued a monthly or yearly productivity report? How would it look? Would the lines on the graph go up or down? Would it show growth or decline? Would it contain positive or negative results? Hopefully most of those listening to this lesson would say, “When I come to the end of my life I want to be able to say that I led a productive life and that I finished what God wanted me to accomplish”. When upon the earth Jesus frequently spoke of the importance of accomplishing God’s work:
- “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work” (John 4:34).
- “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working” (John 5:17).
- “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4).
- “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4).
The Apostles had a similar mindset:
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:8).
Conditions Leading to Fruitfulness
- Cultivate Deep Roots
“He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither” (Psalm 1:3). “For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and does not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7-9). “The root of the righteous will not be moved” (Proverbs 12:3).
We need deep roots because the times of heat, testing and drought will come to all. Those who trust the Lord will even be seen bearing fruit in very difficult times. Oak trees are so stable because if all the roots of one tree were stretched out end to end it would reach for miles. Redwood trees can survive forest fires and large gashes in their trucks because their roots go deep. You can burn down a banana tree and it will grow back because the roots are the key to tree. The passage in Proverbs is telling us that when everything else dries up, when the culture shifts and changes, when there are major upheavals, the righteous are still present, still faithful and still fruitful. The above set of passages do give us practical advice when it comes to cultivating deep spiritual roots. 1) Trust God. 2) Reject the advice and thinking processes of the wicked. 3) Avoid unwise relationships. 4) Dwell on the word of God. 5) Delight in knowing and obeying the truth.
- Eliminate the Weeds
“The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity” (Luke 8:14).
There are 205 varieties of weeds in North America and even more weeds of the spiritual variety. “Weeds are the concerns and interests that sap your time, energy, and money and prevent you from bearing spiritual fruit... Jesus mentions three varieties of weeds. Weeds of worry are a preoccupation with everyday cares and concerns that causes you to take your eyes off of Jesus. Weeds of riches, a fixation with making money to buy more things, may dominate your life so much that you do not have time for the Lord. And weeds of pleasure – chasing the good life can choke your spiritual growth” (God’s Power to Change Your Life, Rick Warren, p. 221).
Even harmless things can become weeds. When anything becomes more important than prayer, bible study, and meeting with Christians – it is has grown into a noxious weed. When something is preventing me from serving the Lord. When God must routinely take the leftovers from my life. When God is shorted. Whenever I throw myself into something on Friday or Saturday so that I am too drained to worship Him on Sunday – there is a big weed growing in my life. Weeds are signs of neglect. They are signs that prayer, bible study, evangelism, helping others and worship are being neglected.
Over the years I have observed that when someone starts saying how busy they are and that is why they cannot attend, worship, study, prayer or be involved as they should – that such is a sure sign that the weeds are taking over. I have never seen anyone grow spiritually or die faithful who remained in and clung to the “I am too busy for the Lord – right now” mindset.
- Embrace the Pruning Process
“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2). “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11).
“Professional pruners will tell you that most people are too timid when it comes to pruning. I used to think that pruning was going in and gently cutting off the little dead pieces. Not so. The live stuff needs to go too – branches, leaves, and flowers” (Warren, p. 223).
When we are pruned it is proof that God loves us. There are times that God allows some of the live stuff to be removed from our lives. At times a wonderful relationship may end, a job might be terminated or good health might not be present for a while. The hope is that we would always remain close to Him – and move even closer during such times. Pruning can be helpful with our perspective. Sometimes we don’t truly appreciate what we have until we no longer have it. Instead of looking negatively upon the past, pruning helps me realize that those were truly good times and that I was blessed. And it motivates me to embrace my present blessings.
Pruning reminds me that nothing here lasts. All my relationships here will end. My health and ability to do various things will end. My marriage and family are not even permanent. Therefore, I appreciate and seek to enjoy all these blessings to the upmost. The point of pruning is to ensure that the tree or plant remains, resists diseases, survives the winter months and comes back next year even stronger to produce more flowers and or fruit. If we were pruned pretty good recently are we making preparations for our come back and future productivity?
Wait for the Harvest
“Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary” (Galatians 6:9). For the moment there are times when it looks like the faithful are not reaping the rewards of their hard work and even when it looks like the unfaithful are not reaping the consequences of their rebellion. Yet – just wait a little bit and we will see a different picture. In putting together this lesson it dawned on me that everyone works hard, but at different things. Some work really hard at not working. Others put a lot of effort into worrying, feeling sorry for themselves or nursing anger or resentment. Some people are very fruitful in causing problems. I want to be fruitful for God.
Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net
