Bearing Fruit

Bearing Fruit

One of the things I love most about the NFL draft is the moment when a team decides to move up the draft board to take a risk on a player. A team negotiates with another team to swap places, hoping that the player they really want will be available when they choose in their new draft position. The Minnesota Vikings did this in the 2014 draft. They traded two of their later-round draft picks to the Seattle Seahawks in order to secure the chance to pick Louisville Cardinals quarterback Teddy Bridgewater as the last pick of the first round. Many in Houston, where I live, thought Bridgewater would go to the Texans, who had the first pick of the second round. If so, it seems the Texans were willing to wait their turn for Bridgewater, whereas the Vikings were willing to pay a price and risk losing two other players to get their franchise quarterback.

You know, there is a fundamental principle in God’s law that declares, “You reap what you sow.” The risks you take and the decisions you make lead to a harvest of some sort. There is fruit, or lack thereof, from the decisions you make. So let me ask you, what does your harvest look like? What are you reaping at work, at home, and with your friendships? Are you increasingly becoming isolated and lonely? Are you doing things today that a year ago you would never have done?

Proverbs 14:14 states, “Backsliders get what they deserve; good people receive their reward.” This Scripture is a simple reminder that when we sow good, we will be rewarded, and when we go astray, there will be consequences.

Remember, our lives, like a crop, bear fruit. The fruit is what is seen. But what determines the harvest is what is sown from one’s heart.

Backsliders get what they deserve; good people receive their reward.

Proverbs 14:14