Fruit that Remains
In Kentucky, we have a tree. The persimmon tree. The fruit it produces is a delicious sweet orange pulce, very soft skin, an extra juicy wondrous treat, similar to a jellied apricot in flavor while looking like a cross between a tomato and a habanero pepper. But all that is true when the fruit is matured and ripe for harvest.
If this fruit is consumed before it reaches this state of maturity, it will cause one's lips to pucker, drying out the mouth and causing the tongue to go numb, constricting the throat, and leaving a very unpleasant bitter taste in the mouth.
It's like that with some Christians, too. They have life and they are a good tree, with seed bearing fruit, but they try to feed people with fruit that has not fully matured and the result is a complete turn off from what could be offered as a joyful treasure if they would just remain and mature with patience to produce valuable fruit in season.
Rather, we see many - who are actually rooted in the good ground of the Word and receiving nutrient life from the Light and Water of the Word - and thus feeling the life and vitality rushing through their trunk, and they think that life and that rush they are experiencing means they are ready for the works of ministry (distributing fruit, feeding the flock, teaching and discipling, leading others). But it is not so. Their fruit has not matured and what unfortunately happens is they go out and it seems like success at first, but all they end up doing is leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of the ones who partook of their fruit.
Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. If you will simply Abide in me and let my words abide in you, then your fruit would remain.
Don't rush your destiny. Don't be lazy and make excuses either, but don't rush the maturity process. You need to be discipled by mentors and coaches and submit yourselves to learning and training - not for a weekend conference or a month of special meetings, or even to limit your thinking to a few years of Bible School - but rather to position yourself for a decade or two (at minimum) of sitting at feet and learning. At the feet of Jesus, #1 of course. But also at the feet of a spiritual father (or two or four), working diligently and trusting they are who God designed them to be - thise who are watching over your souls to give an account. Those who were gifted into your life by Christ for the perfecting (maturing) of the saints until we all come to the fullness of the mature state in Christ, being THEN fully equipped for the works of the ministry (fruit distribution).
Don't rush the call of God on your life. He who hastens with his feet sins. Walk in step with the Spirit. Don't be a fool and trip over your own feet.
- Pastor Barry.
*Bonus* listen to sweet Miss Dymple tell you about the American Persimmon: