Productive Or Fruitful?

Productive Or Fruitful?

“The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens.” Mark 4:28 NLT

A few weeks ago, I happened to catch the screening of the film, The Martian, at the Bedok lifestyle hub. It was about an astronaut Mark Watney who was presumed dead after a fierce storm.  He was left behind on Mars by his team. He had to find a way to survive on the hostile planet with only a meager amount of supplies and to wait for his team to rescue him. In the opening scene, the  astronaut found hope in a blade of leaf pushing through a stony path. 

The leaf blade pushing through the path is an inspiring metaphor of the power of love that is beyond ourselves. It depicts how God sows faith in our hearts. But it is very difficult for the seed of faith to take root in our heart when it is a path. Lent is a time for a check up on the state of our spiritual heart. It is a time to reflect on the direction of the stories of our lives:

What does the story of my life reveal about my attitude towards God?

What does the story of our small group or church reveal about our relationship with God and one another?

What are the idols in my life - acceptance, adventure, hobbies, fitness, wealth, fame, success, pleasure, fun, food.....?

How am I making use of opportunities to sow mustard seeds of love to others? 

How can I see the presence of God in all people?

Am I seeking to live in the kingdom of God? 

Is heaven nowhere or now here?

We are tempted by the god of our appetites to seek success in this world by being productive in what we do. My heart is a path when I am a slave to the values of the world and the acceptance of others. My heart is a path when I am alienated from God and filled with the sins of lust and greed.

The season of Lent is a time to respond to God’s invitation to live as a citizen of heaven - to be fruitful in my life and my death - to change the story of my life and death to a lived experience of the story of Jesus in the world. The parable of the growing seed is to teach us that it only be God’s grace that we can become God’s masterpieces of love. Our task on this earth is simply to ask, seek, and knock:

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-‬8 NLT

In this season of Lent, I am learning that to ask is to persevere in prayer; to seek is to find joy in giving, and to knock is a commitment to fast. I felt led to wake up at 5.30 am to spend time in prayer and meditation. As I did so, I found that it was like waking up to go for the sunrise service on Easter Sunday. I began to look forward to my 5.30 am appointment with our Lord - to wait on God and to pay close attention to see how God is working in the circumstances of my life. It is to increase my awareness of the opportunities each day  to partner Him to encourage and minister to others spiritually.

God does not expect us to be superheroes - He only wants us to be fully human. It is our small acts of giving that are important. We do not have to find the Big Answers to the Big Questions of Life. We are to live out the Big Questions of Life through answers that may be as small as a mustard seed. This is one of the important lesson of the parable of the mustard seed - we are not called to be productive in spectacular acts but to be fruitful through mustard seed acts of love. Surrendering our lives begins with obedience to God’s prompting in the small and mundane moments of our lives.

It is God who sows the seed of faith. We just need to break up the path of lust and greed in our heart for God's seed of faith to take root. The parable of the growing seed is to teach us that our  hard work lies in examining our spiritual heart through the discipline of repentance. When we do so, God will perform the hidden work to circumcise our spiritual heart and transform our minds with the "be-attitudes" of meekness and poverty of spirit.

The hidden work of God in changing our heart will be revealed in the storms of life. All of us will face storms in life - we are either coming out of a storm, going through a storm or will be facing a storm. Storms drive us to rest in the Lord:

“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-‬30 NLT

To find rest for our souls we need to change our mindsets about fasting. The discipline of fasting is not to deprive ourselves of the pleasures of life but to enable our bodies to rest from the stress caused by the sin of gluttony and to cultivate the fruit of self control. Recent studies have found that intermittent fasting has many health benefits from losing weight to the control of diabetes and prevention of heart disease and cancer. Fasting is therefore more than a penitential practice for our spiritual growth - it is a very important habit for our physical health as well as helping us to have an alert mind and a thankful heart.

The disciplines of prayer, giving and fasting are therefore not rules that we are to bear during the Lenten season. The apostle Paul reminds us that rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires (Colossians 2:23 NLT).

Prayer, giving and fasting are spiritual habits to change our attitude towards God -to open our minds and soften our hearts that the seed of faith may find the fertile soil to grow in our lives. Lent is a time to hunger and thirst for the banquet that our Heavenly Father is preparing for us. 

In this season of Lent, may God give us complete knowledge of His will and give us spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way we live will always honor and please the Lord, and our lives will produce every kind of good fruit. Then we will grow spiritually as we learn to know God better and better (Colossians 1:9-‬10 NLT).