Tag Archives: being productive

July 2, 2025 · 5:08 AM

Productive In Every Season

In every season, farmers are doing something to get the most production out of their plants and trees. In one season they prune in order to create new growth opportunities. In another season they work the soil giving it what it needs so that the plant can grow and produce healthy fruit. In one season they wait and let God do the unseen work. Finally there’s harvest season where they reap the rewards of all they’ve been doing. Harvest time is the result of their productivity in the other seasons.

In the late chapters of Genesis, we read the story of Joseph. He went through several seasons himself. He was planted in his father’s house and tended to by him. There was a season of pruning by his brothers and the Egyptians where he lost things and people in his life. There was a season of waiting where he felt forgotten in prison. There was also a harvest time where Pharaoh called for him and he interpreted dreams no one else could. He was given the position of being second in command of Egypt. It didn’t happen overnight. Instead it was the culmination of trusting God in the other seasons. The productivity in the other seasons produced a great harvest.

1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “We know that we prosper and excel in every season by serving the Lord, because we are assured that our union with the Lord makes our labor productive with fruit that endures” (TPT). I don’t if you’re in the waiting season, the pruning season, the soil working season or harvest season. Whatever one you’re in, keep serving and trusting in the Lord. The harvest will come at the appointed time. Don’t grow weary in your work. You will reap the harvest at just the right time that God has appointed (Galatians 6:9). Keep tilling. Keep planting. Keep fertilizing and watering. Keep being still before the Lord. Be faithful in this season and God will do His part to bring about the harvest.

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Being Productive People

Galatians 5 tells us that the Holy Spirit produces fruit in our lives. James 1 tells us that the difficulties and trials we face produce character in us. Have you ever wondered what it is that you’re to produce? God created us to be productive. In many of Jesus’ parables, He compares us to gardens or seeds. In each of them, the ones that produced were promoted. The ones who didn’t produce were thrown out. It’s important to know that we are not to live idle lives. Instead, we should be producing many different things. We were created to be productive people.

Here are some Bible verses on things we’re to produce.

1. So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

James 2:17 NLT

2. Then you will be able to live as the Lord wants and will always do what pleases him. Your lives will produce all kinds of good deeds, and you will grow in your knowledge of God.

Colossians 1:10 GNT

3. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.

Luke 6:45 NLT

4. Therefore produce fruit that is worthy of [and consistent with your] repentance [that is, live changed lives, turn from sin and seek God and His righteousness]. And do not even begin to say to yourselves [as a defense], ‘We have Abraham for our father [and so our heritage assures us of salvation]’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children (descendants) for Abraham [for God can replace the unrepentant, regardless of their heritage, with those who are obedient].

Luke 3:8 AMP

5. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.

John 15:2 NLT

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Inputs Matter

Almost every measure of success has to do what some type of key performance indicator. People judge your success by how much money you make or how many items you sell. We brag about how many hours we work each week too. Somewhere along the way, we have also made busyness an indicator of success. The more busy you are, the more successful you must be. We’ve just about made busyness equal to godliness. Our constant for us is on what are we producing today. Because people measure us by our outputs, we focus solely on those, but how are your inputs?

Jesus was a busy person by all accounts. Thousands would come to Him to hear Him preach and to be healed. The Bible often says that He had compassion on them and healed them all. The output of His ministry was strong, but that is because He focused so much energy on His inputs. You constantly read where Jesus went alone to pray. He knew that if all He did was focus on His outputs, He would burn out and have nothing left to give. If He needed to replenish His innermost being, how much more do we? You can’t keep giving without putting anything back inside. Inputs matter.

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life” (TPT). Your wellspring of life depends on you focusing on your inputs. Every one of us have different ways of recharging. For some, it’s solitude. For some, it’s going for a walk. Think of the times you feel most energized. What we’re you doing? Those are things that keep you going and need to be scheduled into your life regularly. Life drains everyone. We all must pay attention to our inner health if we’re going to be able to accomplish all God has for us. Jesus found the balance between being about His father’s business and recharging. So can you.

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December 23, 2019 · 5:48 AM

Productive Planting

Every spring there are big displays in home improvement stores selling seeds. I like to look through them to see if there’s anything we would like to try to grow. One one side of the packet you have a picture of what the seeds inside will produce. On the other side you have a map of the US, a color coded map that tells you where these seeds grow the best and them some instructions that tell you how deep to plant them, how far apart, when the best time of year to plant them is and how long it will take them to produce. The more closely you follow those directions, the more likely that your garden will produce something from the packet.

Most of the seeds we plant in life can’t be seen and aren’t physically put in the ground. There’s no packet that you can read to tell you where they will grow best, how long until they produce or when the best time to plant them is. When I was a kid, a popular saying in the church world was, “You’ll real what you sow.” To me, it always seemed to have a negative connotation. They only brought it up when you weren’t doing the right thing. While it’s true that it works for those behaviors, it also works for the behaviors God wants to reinforce in our lives. The law of sowing and reaping was instituted in during creation when the Bible tells us that God planted a garden in the east. He didn’t speak the Garden of Eden into existence like most everything else.

As Christians, we need to pay attention to the things we are planting in our lives, the lives of others and into the world. We don’t have to worry about timing, location or season. 1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “We know that we prosper and excel in every season by serving the Lord, because we are assured that our union with the Lord makes our labor productive with fruit that endures” (TPT). The seeds you’re sowing today are not in vain. They will produce whether you think it’s the right season to plant them or not. The law of sowing and reaping can only come into affect when you plan seeds. God is the one who makes them grow, not you. Don’t hold back in planting where God tells you to or when. Your planting will be productive through Him.

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