Ripening the Fruit of Your Life

What does it mean to have a fruitful life? Genesis 25:8 tells us: “Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people.” The word ripe caught my attention. The footnote in the NASB describes ripe as “literally good.” It leads me to think of Abraham’s life as fruitful.

A fruitful life for God is something all God’s faithful should aspire to. We should desire a life of service to God that bears ripe fruit that is good for nourishing others. So what made Abraham’s life fruitful so that he died at a “ripe old age?” Obedience and trust.

When God told Abram to leave his country and go “to the land which I will show you,” Abram obeyed (12:1-5). When God told a childless Abram that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars of the heavens; “then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness (15:5-6).” When God told him to sacrifice his only son, Abraham saddled his donkey and set out with Isaac and two young men in obedience (22:1-3). God stopped Abraham from following through and told him, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me (12).”

To nurture fruit that is good for the Kingdom of God, we must trust God’s plan for our life and obey His calling. Even when things don’t make sense, follow God’s lead and go to the place He will show you. May we live a fruitful life of faith for as many years as God gives us.

I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.” – Genesis 26:4-5, NASB