Luke 8

How does a plant grow to maturity and fruition?



Well, it needs to be planted. Then it needs water. Then it needs nutrients from the place it was planted and enough room to stretch it's roots out and be firmly grounded. Through this process the stem grows upward in search of light. It begins to do photosynthesis and grows green.

If any of the requirements are lacking it will stop growing and may even die if the nutrients / light / room to grow / water are not available or replenished.

But if they are it may continue growing taller, leaves shooting outwards to collect more light, stem shooting further upwards and eventually producing flowers if the length of the day and temperature are right.

Now that it has flowers, what happens? If nothing happens it won't be pollinated and will die without producing fruit. It will stand there solitary, unmoving, but dying slowly.

The flower needs to be beaten up, not to the point of breaking, but to still stand up under the beating. This can be done by the winds shaking it, insects probing and stealing nectar, or other mechanical means.

But if this happens, the flowers pollinate and seeds are produced; an increase of 10, 20, 100 fold from the one seed planted.



verse 15 "But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop"

It is not an easy process to growing and maturing in Christ, but even in the times when things are lacking, we know He provides; when we go through tough times and take a beating, we know He will not let us take more than we can take and He gives us strength to stand through it and grow in the process.






John 15:1-2 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."