Take Root and Bear Fruit

By L. Maxwell Owen

It all started in a garden…

From the garden of Eden to the garden of Gethsemane, to our eternal home in the garden of the Father, the garden has been a symbol or representation of our journey in this life. Throughout Scripture, we are encouraged to take root in God, to love Him with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, and all of our strength, and to anchor our souls in Him and in His word. Over and over in the Bible, we are also instructed to bear fruit. Bearing fruit or spreading the good news of the kingdom is a natural outcome of a heart that is wholly His. When we are rooted, sure and steadfast in God, we will impact the lives of those around us for Him; it is inevitable. We bear fruit when we are firmly rooted to the Lord.

In this book, Mrs. Owen uses the analogy of a garden to beautifully illustrate this correlation between taking root and bearing fruit. There are many different players and contributors in the garden, each one with their own job to do: pollinators, sunlight, water, gardening tools, and more. Mrs. Owen shares with us how, just as in the garden, each person in the family of God has their own unique purpose. When we all work together, we become a fruitful and abundant garden firmly rooted in God and bearing fruit for His kingdom.

“The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion survivors. The zeal of the Lord will perform this” (2 Kings 19:30).

This verse from 2 Kings can be understood literally as well as figuratively. Yes, God’s people would once again plant and harvest the land, but they would also once again be rooted in God’s hand, bearing fruit for Him. The goal of this book is to help us all become more firmly rooted in God and active in bearing fruit for Him, not from compulsion but from the joy of knowing our God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685178857

Book preview

Chapter 1

Chosen

Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made

by singing: Oh, how beautiful! and sitting in the shade.¹

—Rudyard Kipling

You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you

that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain,

so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name

He may give to you.

This I command you, that you love one another.

—John 15:16–17

Spring is an exciting time—winter has finally released its grip; the grass is turning green, sprouts are peeking up through the ground, flowering trees are starting to bloom, and daffodils are bursting out everywhere. The soil is warming up, and it’s time to start getting ready for the summer growing season.

I love going to the Garden Center and choosing the plants and seeds for the garden. Walking through the aisles, we see all kinds of plants, decorative flowers, berry plants, vegetable plants, fruit trees, shrubs, and more. It is hard to control my enthusiasm, and I must keep reminding myself not to buy out the store. We choose plants that produce the fruits and vegetables that we enjoy eating and sharing. In my mind’s eye, I see the end result of a thriving and bountiful garden. In reality, we are not just buying the plant; we’re buying the fruit it will produce, so we look for healthy ones with good growth. We load up our cart with all kinds of greenery, including some flowers to attract the bees and other pollinators, and we head to the checkout counter. And there we see the discount rack, the less-than-perfect plants—root-bound and dying—struggling to stay upright. We see the potential for these plants, too—they only need better soil and some care and encouragement to become beautiful and fruitful. So we pack them into the cart as well. We also stock up on fertilizers, gardening tools, gloves, sprinklers, hoses—anything that might be useful in the garden.

Second Thessalonians 2:13 tells us that we, as believers in Jesus Christ, have been chosen by God for salvation. He sees in each of us the potential fruit we will bear. We do not all look the same. Some of us are damaged and broken—spiritually dead or dying. In fact, every one of us is lost without God’s saving grace. True life is found only in Him. A plant will only survive a short while in a little pot. It needs to be transplanted into rich soil, with room for growth. The same is true for each of us. We need the richness and fullness of God in order to thrive. In the garden, different plants are chosen for different purposes: some produce fruit or vegetables, some provide herbs or spices, others attract pollinators, while others discourage pests. There are many other contributors to the garden: water hoses, tools, gloves, buckets, rakes, etc. It is the same in God’s garden. We each have gifts that enable us to serve effectively. Our gifts help us to bear fruit. Your fruit may not be the same as someone else’s. We bear fruit according to the gifts we have received. If you have the gift of teaching, then sow those seeds. If your gift is to encourage the family of God, then plant that spice. If you are good at attracting people to come to God, then let that fragrance go out. If you have the gift of prayer, then use it to ask God to drive away the slugs and bugs that would attack the church. If each of us uses the gifts we have been given, then we will bear the fruit God has enabled us to bear. In Matthew 25:14–30, Jesus tells the parable of the talents.

For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents. His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.

Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents. His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.

And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.

But his master answered and said to him, You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.

For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In this parable, the master is going on a journey and chooses three of his servants to come to him. He gave to each of them an amount of money, which they were to wisely handle, hopefully to provide a good return to the master when he came home from his journey. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to the third he gave one. A talent was a large amount of gold or silver, some say possibly equal to hundreds of thousands of dollars; but in this parable, it represents the different abilities each person is given by God. In the parable, the man gave his servants charge of his own possessions. In the same way, the gifts God gives us are His possessions, given to us that we might increase His kingdom. So the master left on his journey. While he was away, the servant who received the five talents and the servant who received the two talents both doubled the amount. When the master returned, he praised them for their efforts. The third servant, however, made no attempt to increase the one talent he had been given but instead buried it in the ground. When his master returned, the servant dug it up and handed it back to him. The master was unhappy with this servant for his lack of ambition or concern and took his talent from him. It is unclear why this third servant did not handle his talent wisely but chose to bury it. Maybe he was afraid and allowed that fear to control his decisions. Perhaps he was jealous of the other servants who received more from the master. Maybe he was angry with the master for not giving him more, so he decided to do nothing. Jon Bloom, a teacher and cofounder of DesiringGod.org calls this an issue of pride. We feel that our gift from God is somehow less than someone else’s gift and choose to do nothing with what He has given us, sitting on our hands and pouting. This shows a lack of love for God and a lack of faith in His purpose for us, and because of this, the kingdom of God suffers.

And it’s all fueled by pride. All that feeling bad about myself, it’s all about me. It’s a form of self-worship. Gone is love for my Master. Gone is love for anyone else. Gone is the wonder over the grace that I received anything from the Master at all. Gone is the realization that even one talent is a huge amount and way more than I deserve to steward and only looks small compared to multiple talents that others have.

I think that’s at least one reason why the master in the parable called the less talented servant wicked and slothful (Matthew 25:26). The master gave the servant fewer talents, and that meant fewer opportunities and less capacity for the servant to distinguish himself, and, therefore, he saw the master as a hard, unjust man. So he buried his talent and indulged his own wicked, slothful interests and pursuits.²

It is too easy to look at the talents and gifts that others have received from God and feel inadequate with what He has given us. But in reality, there are just as many people looking at us in the same way, wishing they had the gifts we have. All of us who have been chosen by God have been given gifts from God. Each one of them is a great blessing and given so that we can accomplish what God wants us to do. To take those gifts and bury them in the sand is displeasing to God. He gives us gifts and abilities so that we can build up and enlarge His kingdom. Everything we have is a gift from God, and nothing is our own. We came into this world with nothing, and we will leave the same way. All that we possess is given so that we can bless others and bear fruit for God. We were chosen for this purpose.

In the construction of the tabernacle recorded in Exodus, it is written how God, through the Spirit, chose faithful people and gave specific gifts to them so that they would be able to complete the structure according to His design.

Then Moses said to the sons of Israel, See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge and in all craftsmanship; to make designs for working in gold and in silver and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings and in the carving of wood, so as to perform in every inventive work. He also has put in his heart to teach, both he and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with skill to perform every work of an engraver and of a designer and of an embroiderer, in blue and in purple and in scarlet material, and in fine linen, and of a weaver, as performers of every work and makers of designs. (Exodus 35:30–35)

God equips us with the gifts we need to bear fruit—it is written into our spiritual DNA. He chose us before we were born to have certain gifts and abilities, for the purpose of bearing fruit for Him. In addition, He often adds to our gifts. Sometimes, He puts a ministry in front of us which He wants us to accomplish but which we feel inadequate to do. In Exodus, Bezalel was given the ability to create all the necessary, as well as beautifully elaborate pieces of the tabernacle because it needed to be done. And He didn’t just give him borderline ability; He gave him extraordinary ability to create detailed and beautiful workmanship. Bezalel apparently had no previous knowledge or ability, but God provided the skill he needed to create a tabernacle adorned for the Almighty God. He will do the same for us. Each person in the family of God has a responsibility to use his or her gifts to help produce a growing and healthy body in God’s kingdom.

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore, it says, When he ascended on high, he led captive a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men. (Now this expression, He ascended, what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:7–13)

So each one of us in the body of Christ has been chosen by God and gifted with abilities in order to strengthen the body. When we give ourselves to this endeavor, we become united with the body of Christ. We don’t all have the same gifts, but all of our gifts work together to build up the church and unite us all in faith. Together, we come to a deeper faith and a more intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ, and we grow to our full spiritual stature. Paul encourages us in his second letter to the Thessalonians, reminding us that we are chosen by God and called to gain the glory of Christ.

But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you