Flowers and Fruits

I came across an interesting poem this week cited in Leonard Sweet's book '11'. "I Will Not Die and Unlived Life" is a title that catches your attention. The last lines struck me as a powerful reminder of how we are to live:

'I choose... to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit.' (Dawna Markova)

I knew a good man years ago who left the Catholic church for a non-demominational church for numerous reasons. And he kept asking his good Catholic friend and my boss why he wouldn't leave the church as well. My boss replied that he was called to bloom where he was planted, that he wanted to stay and encourage his fellow Catholics. I liked that answer, that steadfast heart to bloom, to encourage and serve others right where God planted him.

And I like the poem's idea of seed, to blossom, to fruit. I'm not sure if the author had a Biblical intent but we know the Bible speaks to this exact point. Remember the parable of the Sower, where the seed, the Word of God is sown and the good soil, the man who takes it to heart, bears tons of fruit? That should be us. Non-fruit bearers end up like the bare fig tree, cursed, withered up and good only as firewood.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We are a field that needs to be planted with the Word, a field of good soil that takes in the Word which causes us to grow and blossom and be a blessing to others. As Peter puts it, to be such a blessing that others ask us about the hope that is in us! That's how you know when you are blossoming, when others ask you about your blooms.

Maybe the poem invites us to wonder if we are living an 'unlived life'. What are we not doing that we should be doing? Jesus gives us two simple commands which will result it blooming and fruit. We are to love God and love our neighbor. Blooms and fruit are born in these activities. God knows the colorful and fruitful plans He has for us (Jer 29)- are we living these plans or living an unlived life?

To die an unlived life for me is to spend no time with the Word- in church or at home. Without the Word, without Jesus, we bear no blossoms and certainly no fruit. Matthew West sings about his desire to live a fruitful life in his song 'The Motions':

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"

Let's hear the Word, let it take root in us and by the power of the Holy Spirit blossom and bear fruit. Let me encourage you today to live a full life by getting into God's Word. Go to church this week, find a Bible study, and dust off your Bible and catechism at home, crack them open and hear what God has to say to you. It's okay to be a late bloomer, even better to be a bit fruity. Plant the seeds this week to live a full life with eternal rewards. See you all at the flower and fruit show this Sunday!

Blest Regards,
Keith