My old car had a funny way of handling the cold. I would turn on the headlights, heat, rear defrost, and the radio. All was fine until I turned on my blinker. When I did, the radio blinked off and on.
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com)
The small drain from the blinker was more than the power source could handle. Many mornings I feel like my old car. Every ounce of energy is already being used, and if even one small additional drain is required from me, the overload starts shutting down my system.
We’ve all been there. A busy life means little margin—and often, little productivity. No fruit for God.
Jesus told a story once about our busy lives—and the way to bear fruit to God.
A Story Speaks to Our Busy Lives
As Jesus stood beside the Sea of Galilee, He told a story about a sower who sowed seed that “fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it, and choked it out.”
Jesus said the seed represents the Word of God, and the thorny ground represents:
The ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. —Luke 8:14
What a word picture: “choked with worries . . . no fruit.”
Jesus Wants Your Fruit Basket
In a busy life, it’s easy to allow the worries and riches and pleasures of this life to keep them from bearing fruit for God’s kingdom.
What’s our problem? In a word: distraction.
(Photo: Harvesting grapes in Israel. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
How do we bear fruit for God? Jesus’ story also referred to seed that was sown in the good soil:
These are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance. —Luke 8:15
In other words, the purpose of our hearing God’s Word is that it may grow and bear fruit in our lives (John 15:8).
How to Be Productive, not Just Busy
My old car’s problem had an obvious solution. If my blinker caused the radio to go off and on, I just turned off the radio. Obvious, but not easy—because I enjoy music in the car. But music isn’t as important as my blinkers. Blinkers are the law; radios are not.
It’s incredibly difficult to bear fruit for God when our overloaded, busy lives get so distracted we can’t look beyond our commitments to God’s priorities.
We have to decide what tasks are priorities to bearing fruit for God and what tasks are accessories.
Is your radio still playing?
Tell me what you think: What can you say “no” to in your busy life in order to say “yes” to God’s priorities? To leave a comment, just click here.