Alan Fong
3 min read
Alan Fong
3 min read
Alan Fong
3 min read
A Bushel and a Peck
Today's Verse:
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. ~Proverbs 11:30
One of our older and very descriptive idiom phrases is “a bushel and a peck.” This is a phrase that simply means “a lot,” “a large amount,” or “a great deal.” It is typically used to describe the great magnitude of someone's love to another person. It is a term that has great application and meaning for our devotion this morning. This morning, we are looking at the fruit of the Christian life.
We see a fundamental duty.
The moment a person gets saved, his life is to be filled with good works and service to the Lord. Service is an expression of our worship of the Lord. The fruit of the righteous implies that our lives are to be bearing fruit. It is a term of expectation. Jesus said in John 15:16, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” We are called and designated to bear fruit. We are to produce for the Lord. We are to be so filled with the Lord that we are bringing forth much fruit for His glory. How well are you performing in your duty?
We see the flourishing degrees.
There are various degrees of fruit that we produce. There is fruit that is reasonable. Jesus said that we should bring forth fruit. It is reasonable that the Lord sees results from our lives. There is fruit that is replete. This is fruit that is plenteous and in abundance. Jesus describes the kind of fruit that He expects to see from us as fruit, more fruit, and much fruit. There is fruit that remains. This is lasting fruit. This is fruit that does not lose its viability and purpose. There is fruit that is reproduced. The fruit that we bring forth should be reproducing itself over and over. The seed from every fruit is a potential tree that will add much more yield. Imagine one tree being reproduced into hundreds of trees over many years. What is the depth to which you are bearing fruit?
We see the favorable durability.
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. This is a great picture in helping us to understand what God wants us to produce. The tree of life produces everlasting fruit. It is eternal fruit. It has long-lasting results. Living for Jesus, praying without ceasing, winning souls, and victorious Christian living has favorable durability. When a soul is won to Christ, his soul is rescued from hellfire. When prayers are brought before God, they are sweet-smelling incense before the throne of God. When we help the fatherless and widows in their affliction and keep ourselves unspotted from the world, this is pure religion and undefiled. We are likened to trees whose product is lasting and favorable.
We see a fulfilling discernment.
There is the requirement that we produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. There is also the requirement that we are diligently seeking to win souls to Christ. We demonstrate wisdom in our life when we win souls. Winning souls looks at life from an eternal perspective and not an earthly perspective. We realize that time is short and people need to be saved. We realize that every soul won to Christ is one less person going to Hell. We realize that a soul won to Christ is a potential soulwinner in the making. When a soul is won to Christ, there is something powerful about that experience that changes you forever. The wisest thing that any Christian will ever do is to focus on winning souls.
Being marginal in our product is less than our best for Jesus. Let us work for the night is coming. Let us ask for God’s power and yield fruit that is “a peck and a bushel.” Are you a tree of life? Are you demonstrating wisdom in your yield? Are you rooted deeply in Christ in order to yield much fruit?
Have a fruitful God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Zephaniah 1-3
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