The Ouse Valley Benefice

Fruitfulness

‘Fruitfulness’ comes to mind when I think of autumn. It's wonderful to know that some of you have actually been doing ‘real’ harvesting work in your fields, gardens and allotments. As for me, my harvesting has been limited to gathering pears. If any of you have walked up our driveway recently, you'll have seen that we’ve been a bit overwhelmed!

Do any Bible passages come to mind when you think about fruitfulness? Maybe Jesus’ parable about the sower or Paul’s list of the ‘fruits of the spirit’ in his letter to the Galatians?

In fact, fruitfulness is a central theme in Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. From the first creation to the new heavenly creation, God’s plan is for abundance. 

We were made, in God’s image, to be a fruitful people. Originally, that command was related to family, crops, livestock and the building of societies. Over time, the idea of fruitfulness became linked to living a life pleasing to God. Psalm 1.6 gives us a picture of people who meditate on God’s Word being ‘like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season’. 

Every reference to fruitfulness in the New Testament refers to human ‘souls’. Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’ (Luke 10:2)

So as we give thanks for the physical crops at our harvest festival services, let us also remember that we all have a part to play in God’s other harvest - those people we know who do not yet know God’s transforming love in their lives. Happy Harvest!

We are in the process of setting up Parish Giving for each of our churches. This scheme enables people to set up regular giving or make a one-off donation. The advantage of using this scheme is that gift-aid is automatically claimed on our behalf and all of the money that you donate (including the gift-aid) is passed directly onto the church. There are no administration costs involved.