0859. The Fruitage of Patience
The Fruitage of Patience
"The husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain" (Jam_5:7).
We cannot expect a harvest in a day. There must be first the sowing, and then the seed must die. Then the new life is born and the result is, in turn the shoot, and the bloom, all of this precedes the harvesting. There must be the cultivation, too, of the crop. This process is beautifully set forth in Mar_4:28 : "First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear."
Those of us who serve with patience, will soon have the fruitage which patience brings. The stony ground hearer of Mat_13:21 brought forth no fruit because he only endured for a little while. When the hot sun of persecution arose, he withered away.
If we are to bring forth abundance of fruit, we must go forth and patiently endure for "he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."
In 2Ti_2:6, we see the husbandman who labored entering first into the fruitage of his labor. The passage reads thus: "The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits." In Heb_6:15 we have the same thought, different-y expressed: "And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise."
We spoke of the service of Paul, of the toils which he endured. May we not now speak of the fruitage of his toil? He wrote to the Thessalonians, among whom he had suffered for the Lord, and said: "Ye shall be my joy and crown of rejoicing at the coming of the Lord." Is there any joy that is quite comparable to the joy of the farmer as he sees the ripened grain awaiting the sickle, and as he garners it into his barns? Yes, it is the joy of the soul-winner, as he sees those he led to Christ gathering home.
Our Lord Jesus Christ endured the Cross despising the shame. With what patience did He plod along His weary way? But now He has entered into His glory. He has seen the fruitage of His toil, in part; and when He descends from Heaven and the raptured hosts shall meet Him, He will shout for joy!
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR