On Fruitfulness

God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth ...And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. Gen 1:22,26

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. " Galatians 5:22-23

"By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. John 15:8

By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them. Matthew 16-20

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Luke1:42

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit John 12:24

As a lifelong gardener who has toiled in the hot sun, I have witness the truth about all living things that fruitfulness and death are weaved together. I have a compost bin and in the late fall I discard all my tomato plants from the the prior year. In the spring the seedlings from those dead plants sprout and I gather them and plant them again for the new crop of the year. From God's initial work in creation He has spoke to us about being fruitful. Man was to multiply and fill this earth. John Henry Newman was once asked what he thought of the laity and he replied "we we would look a little silly without them." In that also God's plan for man in the economy of salvation includes that we continue to be fruitful and multiply. Many countries on earth are not doing so. The people worship at the golden calf, too selfish to have children, too concerned with accumulating things, too much trouble. It is as though we have in essence told God, "we are not interested in your plans." One cannot miss the parallel of spiritual fruitfulness, for that too is being ignored, too many other important things, too many ways to self indulgence, to accumulate things, too much trouble. All this business of "busyness" so we can fill our lives up with stuff before we die. That is in where the trouble lies; we fear death so we spend time gathering up junk that is of no use in God's plan. If there is hope it is in focusing in on the First Things, for our barrenness will leave us without fruit and that is far worse death than one could imagine.