A Heart That Follows God
When we plant apple seeds, we expect an apple tree to grow. It’s the seed and the roots that decide what kind of tree grows in the soil.
Similarly, when we belong to God we expect goodness and righteousness to grow in our lives. It is the fruit of our actions that tells us what kind of seeds we’ve planted.
One of the ways we can identify the work of God in our life is by watching what type of fruit we produce. A sign of a growing and godly life is a heart that desires to live and act in accordance with God’s Word. Only someone who has spent time with God will produce that type of action in their life.
John cautions us to be mindful of what type of fruit our lives produce. When we truly belong to God, and we spend time with Him, our lives will naturally produce goodness and right living.
The goal is not to be prideful about how many good deeds we do, but instead, to cultivate a heart that wants to selflessly do good to others in the name of Jesus. We may not be perfect, but our hearts should desire to follow God.
Take a moment to think about your thoughts and actions over the past week. Do they reflect a heart that has been in a close relationship with God? Think of some steps you can take to create regular rhythms of spending time with God.
I just started to read “Why Grace Changes Everything” by Chuck Smith. The introduction by Raul Ries has brought back my journey to accepting Christ.
I was a preteen, I remember wanting to read “Joni” by Joni Erickson (now Tada) and the “Cross and the Switchblade” by David Wilkerson. This sparked something in me but I wasn’t sure. Then I became friends with teen a little older than me who introduced me to the Bible. But it would be years later that I made my impassioned plead to the Lord only to backslide a few years later. Then another friend took me to Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia and it was there that I rededicated my life to the Lord. And is there that the Lord has been dealing with my sin through grace until this day. I am a work in progress because I have things that come to light from my past that may hold me from things the Lord has for me.
I am looking forward to reading this book just by reading a short part of the introduction. It may inspire me to write about my own ...