Knowing Your Seasons and Its Fruit
Scriptures: Genesis 8:21-22; Ecclesiastes 3:1, 10-11a; Galatians 6:7-9
Introduction:
When Noah and his family came out of the ark after the waters had receded, they built an altar and offered a burnt offering to God on the altar. As God smelled the soothing aroma, He said in His heart the following words: “.…I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:21b, 22) Please play close attention to what God said in verse twenty-two – that seedtime and harvest, winter and summer will not cease. In other words, as long as there is an earth, there will be seasons. When the time arrives where there are no more seasons, the earth will cease to exist.
The title of my message this morning is “Knowing Your Seasons and Its Fruit.” Webster dictionary defines a season as “any of the four divisions of a year; the time in which something takes place; the fitting time.” For the purpose of this message, I will use all three of these definitions and especially the third one; “the fitting time.” I want to pose a question to you for your consideration. How much of your life is dictated by the seasons in which you live? Is it 50%, 75%, or even 90%? As you think about your answer, consider the following:
o Most school terms starts and breaks according to the seasons.
o Most of our foods are produced according to the seasons (that is why if you live in the Midwest, you import a lot). Based on this fact alone, what we eat is influenced directly by the seasons.
o How we dress is influenced by the seasons – or it should be anyway.
o Where is choose to live can be influenced by the seasons.
o Our mental condition can be influenced by the seasons (some people get more energetic and less depressed when there are more hours with sunlight.)
o Our behavior can be influenced by the seasons.
I think you are starting to see where I am going with this. God said that as long as the earth exists, seasons will also exist. Somewhere there will always be a summer, fall, winter and spring and thus we will continue to live our lives according to the seasons. I will not plant tomatoes in December hoping for fruit in January if I live in Kansas. I will not wear clothes fit for someone living in Alaska in December if I am living in Florida. I will not expect to go to the store and purchase a fresh watermelon in January. Why? Because in each of these situations the expectations are not in compliance with the season. I have learned to live by the seasons. I have learned to establish my expectations according to the seasons. I have learned that things do happen in “due” season. If I want my watermelon I can live where they grow year round or I can wait until they are “in season” where I choose to live. If I want it to be 70 degrees in December so I can spend Christmas day on the beach, then I need to live where the “seasons” allows for this to happen – or take a vacation around Christmas where I can have what I want. My point is, the seasons do not change to accommodate me; I change to accommodate the season.
I. Seasons and Fruits
I shared with you the three definitions of season from Webster’s dictionary and discussed the impact of the four seasons on how we act and live. Now I want to transition to the second and third definition – “the time in which something takes place; the fitting time.” These definitions take us beyond the four seasons that we think about naturally. Although they can include some aspects of the natural four seasons, they are much broader in scope. For example, when we refer to our most recent 4th of July holiday, we call it just that – the 4th of July holiday. We all know that it is a nationally recognized holiday, but it is not thought of as a season – just a holiday. But when we think about Christmas, Christmas is thought of as both a holiday and a season. When it is thought of as a season it speaks to the definitions of “the time in which something takes place; the fitting time.” So what happens during this “season”? People are nicer; they reach out more to the needy; they reflect more on family and friends; they get in what is called the “holiday spirit” – being more cheerful and giving.” This lasts from around Thanksgiving to shortly after Christmas. This season includes a lot of traditions and preparations for the big day. If our government would attempt to change this holiday from December 25th to another day there would be a mass rebellion. Christmas is supposed to happen in December because that is the “fitting time” and no other time would be acceptable.
Each season carries with it its own fruit. Now I am speaking of fruit not necessarily in the sense of the fruit that you eat, but the results of the season itself. For your understanding for this message, think of fruit as “the result or product of any action.” This is the definition that comes to mind when we think about how we are sowing “spiritual seeds” and are reaping the “fruits” of our labor. Each natural season produces fruits (weather-based fruit) based on its season. For example; the winter season produces snow and ice storms. The spring season produces rain and tornadoes as parts of its fruit. The summer produces hurricanes as parts of its fruits and the fall produces colorful leaves as parts of its fruit. It could happen, but it would not be a normal occurrence to see snow in Kansas in July. This is not a part of the fruits of the summer. I hope this is making sense, if not, just hang in there with me because I am going somewhere with this message. As it pertains to the weather, we pay people to monitor the weather in each season so that we can be safe from the fruits that each season produces. If I did not know and understand that snow and ice comes in the winter in Kansas, then I would not own a snow shovel in preparation for it. When we understand the seasons, we know what to expect from each and therefore we are prepared for those season because each is unique with its own fruit. This is the purpose of my message this morning: we need to understand our seasons and the fruit we produce during those seasons.
II. Recognizing Our Seasons
Ecclesiastes 3:1, 10-11a says “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven…I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time….” When you read what Solomon wrote in its entirety you will find that he spells out the different “seasons” for which things happen. He opens with the statement that there is a season for everything under the earth; a time for every purpose under heaven. We must learn and accept this as a fact if we are going to operate in our seasons. He goes on to give examples of the different seasons: a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to take up what was planted; a time to cry and a time to laugh, etc. All of these examples are types of seasons that we experience. In verse ten he acknowledges that he has seen the God-given tasks with which men are to be occupied with. We all understand that as Christians there are things that we must be doing here on earth to fulfill the mission that Christ left here for us. In order to accomplish the task before us, we must understand our seasons. In the first part of verse eleven, Solomon says that God has made everything beautiful in its time – meaning that there is a timing element to God. God has ordained something to be, but we must understand the timing of when it is supposed to happen. We must operate within God’s timing; within the season that God has placed for us to accomplish certain tasks. Turn to Galatians chapter six and we will read verses seven through nine.
Galatians 6:7-9 says “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
I want you to pay special attention to what verse nine says: “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Unlike a lot of people who just exist in their living on this earth, as Christians who are trying to do the will of God we must be conscious of the seasons that we are operating in. If we do not understand the season that we are in, we will not recognize what is happening around us or most important, the seeds that we need to be sowing in order to produce the appropriate fruit. This is something that we often miss as Christians. We go through our lives as if spiritually, every season is the same requiring the same actions on our part. This is why we witness Christians going to Church for many years and are so ingrained in “going to church” that their spiritual life is just that, going to church at the scheduled time on the scheduled day. These Christians miss their seasons by having the mentality that it is just about going to Church. Each of us have an individual season that we must understand and as a Church, we have a combined season – a season that we must operate in as a Church. Based on our seasons, our actions and responses should be different. As I mentioned earlier in the message, we live physically by the seasons. I know that if it is snowing and the temperature is 15 degrees I need to bundle up if I am going outside. If I choose to, based on my own stupidity, to go outside in shorts, tee shirt and sandals then I cannot blame God for getting sick. It would not be God’s fault if I did not recognize the season that I was in and therefore my actions caused me to get sick. Does this make sense? This example sounds so foolish, but spiritually we have people doing this all the time. Because we do not understand our seasons spiritually, we do things and when they do not work out, we blame God. Because we do not understand our seasons, we do not understand what fruit we should be looking for and therefore we try to pick the wrong fruit at the wrong time while the fruit that is ready to be picked rots on the vine because no one is focusing on it. Some of the fruits of our labor are rotting on the vine because we do not know what season we are in! (I will go deeper into this in next week’s message). Before I close, I want you to notice the three bananas I have before you.
The Green Banana: Each of these bananas represents a season. This first banana has not ripened fully yet. If you were to peel it now and eat it, it would be hard and it flavor would not be as robust as when it is fully ripe. This banana (as it is with all bananas) was picked well before it was ripe so that by the time it got to its destination it would be complete and ready to be eaten. Now consider what the banana grower had to understand about bananas. Had they picked the bananas when they were almost fully ripened, they would not have been able to ship the bananas any long distance because they would have been too ripe by the time they arrived. They had to be picked at just the right time, just the right season based on where they would be shipped to. When this banana was picked, it knew that it was not ready; it knew that it was not time for it to be eaten; it knew it was not its season. The banana – if it were human – would have asked all sorts of questions of the grower as to why it was being picked at that time. Did the grower not understand that it was still green and hard and not very flavorful? What was the grower thinking in picking it so early? The banana could not understand from it limited knowledge what the grower had in store for it. All it knew was that it was being picked too early. The banana did not understand that the grower knew it would experience a season and during that season (the actual travel to its final destinations) it would continue to ripen so that when its time had come it would be ready. This is similar to what God does with us. He picks us out when we are not ready; when we feel the least qualified; when we are not prepared because He knows that when we come through the different seasons that we must experience, we will be ready. But just like the banana, we go kicking and screaming because all we can see is what is right in front of us and we want to be able to see what God sees. It is a lot easier to be obedient when we know everything and can see the outcome versus walking blindly and having faith that it is going to be okay.
The Ripe Banana: This second banana is ripe; it is ready to be eaten. It has traveled through its season and has waited for this time – its time. When you peel this banana and bite into it, you get the fullness of its taste. It is not too hard or soft, it is just right. It is being consumed at the height of its season. Everything has been aligned just so to make it possible for me to eat this banana when it is at its best. When we walk in our seasons and understand the differences between them, we can be at our best. Yes we walk by faith, but as Solomon said, there is a time for every purpose under heaven. When we respond to God’s call at the time that He calls, the outcome is going to be great. We do not know how God will work something out, but if we walk in step with Him and understand the season that is when the miraculous happen. Our walk with Christ is about seasons and understanding that there is a time for us to act and there is a time for us to be still. If we act when we should be still it does not work out too well for us. If we are still when we should be acting; we miss it all together. This ripe banana represents a Christian life that has come together through all of its seasons to be exactly where God wanted it to be. In the case of this banana it is so that it could be utilized (and eaten) as a demonstration in this sermon. But for each of us, the task is much greater. There are seasons that we all go through in order to get prepared for how God will use us. For some of us we are just starting out. For others of us we are walking in and adjusting to the different seasons that we are going through. And for the remainder of us we are missing our season and that bring me to the third banana – this over ripened banana that I would be hesitant to use even in a banana pudding.
The Over-Ripened Banana: I do not know about you, but I do not necessarily care for over-ripened bananas. I do not like it when they turn brown or have the brown patches on it. If you let them get just a little ripened they are great for banana pudding; but even then you have to plan it out just so. When a banana gets too ripen it gets soft and mushy. It falls apart in your mouth and has a strong taste. For me it makes me want to gag and spit it out of my mouth. This over-ripened banana is an example of a Christian who has gone through their seasons of preparation. They have gone through their seasons of being useful. They have gone through their seasons of being the most benefit to anyone. All this person is good for now is just wasting away – spiritually that is. Now you may be wondering how this can happen spiritually since God can always use anyone regardless of their age. I would tell you that you’re absolutely correct. But this person chooses not to be used. It is not God that is refusing to use them, it is the person themselves. Sometime we get burnt out and just want to sit. Sometimes we get offended or mad at God and refuse to do anything else for Him. Sometimes things happen in our lives and we turn our backs on helping others while we get everything we can get for ourselves. Whatever the reason may be, this is a person who walks through their seasons as if the seasons do not exist. This is the person wearing shorts, a tee shirt and sandals in the snow. This is the person that wears a fur coat in the summer when it is 90 degree outside. Their actions do not match the seasons for which they are in.
Every one of us is in a season right now. Your season may be different from mine; but it is a season none-the-less. We are in a place right now individually and as a Church where we must recognize our season. Some of you are stepping up to do things you have not done before. Some of you are taking on tasks requiring more and more of your time in order to get things completed for our transition. Our season is about to change and we all need to recognize it so that we do not miss God. I will continue this next week. But in the mean time – are you a green, ripe or over-ripen banana spiritually?
“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven…I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time….”
Until next week, may God’s blessing continue to be y
