Finishing the Job

The journey to maturity comes to us in stages. We take delight in the promise that “He who began a good work in us, will finish that work”. We want to continue to grow. We want to go deeper and have a richer experience of the Father’s love. We want to be fruitful, and innately we sense that fruit comes from deep communion with the Lord.

Jesus taught that fruitfulness comes by degrees. That's not how we usually understand the parable of the four soils. But consider: we start out a bit like hard ground which no seed can penetrate. Later we are shallow, and God’s will for us springs up as a response in us but then quickly withers because of lack of depth of soil. We move on in our journey, and finally there is a good depth of soil, but it is riddled with thorns. When these are removed, fruitfulness comes. Why? Because the heavenly seeds, blessings that fall from the Father’s hands into our life can flourish unhindered.

Three enemies stand in the way of our fruitfulness. That’s right. That traditional trinity of evil despise the thought of us bringing forth anything good.

• The Evil One, who crushes us under his feet, and snatches away every good seed.
• The Flesh, or Self, which makes us shallow and unreceptive to the implanted Word.
• The World and its cares, which squeeze the heavenly life out of us.

Jesus overcame the Evil One, and we were saved from his clutches. His work in bringing us to salvation was like a plough breaking our soil’s hard crust. At that point, hope of a harvest stirs within us. Next, the Holy Spirit begins to war against the Flesh in us, throwing out the heavy rocks that lie just under the surface in our lives. As he prevails, our lives become fertile, because the soil has gained full depth. At last, the heavenly seeds spring up, but now the issue is that the soil is still impure. Thorns can flourish now. The Father and his house are at odds with the World and its cares. One by one, he uproots our love for the World.

When people come to faith in Christ, we often describe what has happened in terms of fruit and a harvest. That is true to a degree, but individual fruitfulness lies a little way down the road. One enemy after another must give way, before a harvest can spring up within us.The Holy Spirit and the Father need to do their work. Not only are people needed as “planters.” We need “waterers” as well.

Let’s recalibrate our expectations. Paul laboured to present everyone complete in Christ. In our own lives and the lives of others, we should be focussed on more than our friends being delivered from the kingdom of darkness.  Let’s share his goal and together seek maturity and fruitfulness in our own lives and the lives of others. The Lord will finish the work. That’s his promise to us all. But we have a part to play.