Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today- May 5, 2010
Productive Living…“But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13:23
Productive living comes from confidence in Christ and not from faith in the fleeting things of this world such as wealth and health. Akin to a persistent farmer, I stay faithful to cultivate my heart in prayer and plant the seeds of Scripture deep down in my soul. So then the robust roots of righteousness cause my life to bear the fruit of Christ’s character.
Indeed, many forces compete with our faith and can cause us to flounder in fruitlessness. The deceitfulness of riches promises peace only later to deliver problems. The cares of this world–if left dormant in a hopeless condition–corrode our confidence in Christ. And the enemy proactively seeks to snatch or distort truth, so our thinking becomes unclear.
However, Jesus gives you a path for productive living. It begins with a teachable heart ever willing to receive His word. You recognize the need to know more about what your Master requires of you, His servant. Regardless of His gracious past blessings, you look fresh in the face of Jesus for a new infusion of intimacy and understanding. His past favor is for affirmation and encouragement, not for lazy living now. Grace taken for granted becomes license for loose living, but gratitude for grace gains favor from God.
“All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:15-16).
So stay productive on the path of faithful living. Thank Christ for the fruit bearing capacity He has given you and be content. Celebrate. Don’t compare yourself with the accomplishments of other saints in service for our Lord. Then over time, watch your capacity expand your productivity. Faithfulness compounds in results like interest does with money. So, daily deposit God’s word in your life and you will reap a huge harvest for Him. Productive living is peaceful living, as it quietly grows your influence for God’s glory.
“The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever” (Isaiah 32:17).
Is my life productive in the ways of God? Have I allowed Christ to fill my capacity?
Related Readings: Genesis 26:12; John 15:8; Galatians 5:22-23; James 3:17
