The Yielding Years

1 Peter 1:23 23Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

If you think about it – in a kind of wild way, people and trees have a lot more in common than we may realize!

Instead of being the Physical reproduction of fruit, in the life of the believer, it is Spiritual.

John 15:8 8Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Galatians 5:22-23 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

So God takes all of this time to teach us of the similarities between men and trees, paralleling our lives and purpose with theirs, and then he goes into the subject of FRUITBEARING.

Because once again, the success or failure of the forest, just as in the church, is dependant on whether the trees are able to grow and bear fruit!

God gives a little instruction here: I have always wondered exactly how long we should give new believers to grow and mature in their faith to reach “fruit-producing” age.

I think God has an answer to that question tucked away here in Leviticus.

For three years, the fruit of a newly planted tree was not to be eaten of – the new tree was considered “uncircumcised” or unclean for that early growth period.

{And you know how God is – when He says “Don’t eat the fruit of the tree” you really need to obey and not eat the fruit of the tree! Just ask Adam and Eve about that one!}

When we look at that three year mark – we find some interesting things:

Jesus spent three years investing His life into the lives of His disciples.

Galatians 1:18 18Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.

Ac 20:31 31Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

This principle is played out time and time again in Scripture – Maturity does not come as quickly as we would like it to! It is easy to get discouraged and frustrated because we are not as mature as we would like to be.

THERE ARE NO SHORT-CUTS TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH!

If you have ever tried to eat fruit before it is ripe and ready, I promise it will leave a bad taste in your mouth!

We have a lot of embittered Christians today that bit off more than they could chew too early in their walks, and now really don’t even care if they are used at all in the church.

So, what happens on year four in our passage?

Leviticus 19:24 24But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD withal.

B) THE PRAISE

Three years – you can’t lay your hands on it – for three years you are patiently waiting to eat of the tree you planted when first entering into the land – YEAR FOUR – and NO – NOT YET!

Year four is all about God and for God.

Now this seems like a very simple principle, and it is – but the principle it teaches is absolutely amazing!

Before we can be used to feed our fellow people – before we can be profitable to nurture and sustain the lives of the people that God has placed around us, we must be consecrated unto our God!