Lessons From the Lemon Tree

Winter has passed in our part of the world and the warmer weather has well and truly arrived.

With that warmer weather comes the wonderful burst of colour on the plants in our garden. The fruit trees have also been covered in flowers from the stone-fruit to the citrus and little fruit are beginning to appear. And this brings me to our lemon tree. As I picked lemons from it this past winter and now watch the new flowers and fruit coming I was reminded of some life and ministry lessons. I was further prompted to look, enjoy, and learn from the beauty and processes after reading an article called 'Where have all the Doves Gone?'. That article made the challenge about enjoying the wonder of God's gift of nature and then glorifying Him for it. The article even mentioned how 'Wonder is an essential nutrient of the mind.' It went on to say:

Our estrangement from the natural world is a theological crisis. How, for instance, will the Psalmist's reference to a deer running to water (Psalm 42) evoke meaning for those who've never seen a deer do that? How will the heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1) to people who've never seen the stars through light pollution? How will someone who has never waded through wildflowers "consider the lilies of the field" (Matt. 6:28)? How many ants get visited and considered by those who need wisdom (Prov. 6:6)?

I have been so blessed by taking closer looks at the wonders of our garden over the years, from flowers to birds, butterflies, and other creatures. But this time I was prompted to look more closely at the lemon tree.

As I picked some lemons, I began to see the variations of the fruit and the ripening of the fruit. I realised it was leading me to not only be in awe again at the Creator's work, but also to think about the metaphor of harvesting, and Scripture's picture of gospel sharing in the light of a harvest. As the seasons began to change and I harvested nearly the last of this season's lemons, I began thinking about the different aspects of the process in order to reach the place of harvesting, and what they had to teach my about the gospel harvest.

Lesson 1. Waiting

You see we didn't plant the lemon tree 'yesterday' and then pick the lemons 'today' (so to speak). 

Actually the journey of being able to enjoy a good harvest of lemons was quite a journey.

Our tree was first purchased while we lived in our previous house. At that house we had no harvest of lemons at all. The tree was young and we needed to wait. It seemed to struggle. When we moved house, we moved the tree. It gained new richer soil and grew well. 

Last year we were blessed with a couple of lemons, but it wasn't until this year that we really had a full fruiting.

➤ That was my first lesson….harvests take time to come. We have to be patient and persevere. Even when it seems pointless and nothing is happening, its not time to forget about the tree as a lost cause, but it's time to press on patiently with hope. As we participate in the gospel harvest of souls, we often have to be patient. We might have to persevere with people through ups and downs and changes in their lives. Sometimes it might seem like nothing is happening or that it seems hopeless when little flowers come and no fruit results.  But as we patiently persevere, we just might get to enjoy the harvest day that is yet to come.

And that brings me to...

Lesson 2 - Flowers aren't fruit

Flowers bring notes of joy for life and the hope for future fruit and harvest. But a flower doesn't guarantee fruit. There is work to be done between a flower and a harvest if there is going to be a harvest.

➤ Sometimes as we share the gospel with others, we see initial responses that bring us hope and joy, but those initial responses and beginning interest, are just the beginning. Much more  persevering work needs to be done, and watering with truth still has to occur. We might be tempted to look at the flowers and anticipate a big harvest. But we must be ready for the long haul. We must also be ready to acknowledge that flowers don't all result in fruit. There will be disappointments along the way. But we need to also carefully watch where the fruit is coming more than just the initial flower bloom. It's the fruit that is the goal.

Lesson 3. Not all appearances of fruit will go on to yield a harvest of real fruit

I noticed on my lemon tree that some flowers did move to the beginnings of fruit stage, and little green fruit appeared, but then dropped off before they properly developed. 

➤ Like the parable of the soils that Jesus told, where some plants grew initially but then died and others were snuffed out by rocky ground or strangled out by weeds, only some initial signs of true fruit are really what they first appear. Only in time will the true fruit become evident. We can't rush the process. We have to watch and wait, persevere and pray. Some people show more than initial signs of welcoming the gospel and we can think that their profession of faith was real. But some people can do a very good job of looking like they are growing into the real fruit for quite a while, but then drop off along the way. But again, as we watch and wait, the truth will be revealed eventually. We can't make assumptions or quick judgements.

Lesson 4. Fruit develops at different rates

Although the flowering of the tree all happens within a short time frame and happens for the whole tree at the same time, the fruit picking time can be rather protracted. We have been picking lemons for months and there are still a couple on the tree that are not quite ready. Some seemed to mature and ripen more quickly than others. Some of the fruit were on the side of the tree that got more sun and other parts got quite a lot of shade, and maybe that impacted the process. We were careful to only harvest lemons that had already fallen off the tree or that hardly needed anything much more than a slight bump to fall off. Sometimes a fruit looked from the outside like it was ready, but it actually wasn't ready yet.

➤ We are all different, and the time it takes from someone hearing the gospel to actually being harvest-ready also differs from person to person. Some people's life environment is different from others and their context impacts how they absorb the truth of the gospel as it is explained and gradually understood. Some of those we share Christ with seem like they are so close to being fully ready to trust Him…but they just aren't yet. Again we can't rush the process.

Lesson 5. Even when fruit proves to be a real harvest, each fruit is different

As I picked the fruit over the months, I noticed the significant difference in size of the fruit. One was huge, others were quite small, and many were 'average'. But they all had the same 'lemon' identity and flavour, some strong, some not so strong. When you cut them open and squeezed them, the taste of all of them was still 'lemon'!

➤ As people hear the gospel and become ready for harvest, their 'being ready for harvest' doesn't mean they all have the same amount of bible knowledge or have the same amount of spiritual understanding about prayer, or trusting God in suffering, or being a church member, or being a godly parent. Some might have absorbed quite a bit over the course of 'pre-harvest' depending on their life context. How much someone knows or how much they fit or don't fit the average knowledge and understanding isn't the point. The main issue is whether or not they are definitely showing the right essential 'Christ identity and flavour'. When you interact with them and 'squeeze' them in relation to their new life in Christ, do they 'smell' and 'taste' of Jesus?

Charles Spurgeon once wrote about how much variety God put into nature when he created it, 

'you never see two hills shaped the same way or two rivers that follow the same course from their source to the sea. Nature despises monotony, and so does the work of the Holy Spirit. In the work of conversion, the purpose is the same, but the ways and means are not uniform'. (Spurgeon Birthday Book 5th October)

Our road to Christ and our walks with Christ are as varied as the people who have experienced salvation in Christ. We should rejoice and marvel at the varied ways God works in and through his many children but by His one Spirit.

Lesson 6. Some fruit might not look like you expected on the outside, but can be just as wonderful on the inside

One of our fruit seemed to have a rougher and slightly brownish skin. I rubbed it and the marking seemed to be fairly attached. It had been hanging on a very sheltered part of the tree. But when it was cut open and eaten it was just fine inside. And my husband (who ate it) assured me that it tasted fine and just needed some extra rubbing and the brown came off.

➤ Sometimes a person is born again but they still have a lot of 'baggage' from their life-growing process in this world. We can almost wonder at times if they really were ready for harvest and are truly a new person in Christ. Sometimes it can take extra effort to work through the process of all the 'residue' in their lives. At first they barely look or smell 'Christ-like' but bit by bit the residue falls away and the true identity of Christ begins to be seen more clearly. Then when a tough time of 'squeezing' comes into their life, you discover the reality of Christ is obvious and emerges strong and potent.

➤➤➤Okay, some of these points might be stretching the image of the lemons on my lemon tree and we must be careful not to make doctrines out of metaphors….but it just struck me again how God's world is full of illustrations in nature, of deeper spiritual principles. That is why Jesus so often used nature to help us understand our world and life from God's spiritual perspective. No, Jesus did not talk about lemon trees. But Jesus did talk about the mission field as a harvest field ready for harvest, and he talked about soil and plants and vines and fruit.

Sometimes it can feel like harvesting in the spiritual sense…harvesting souls…is disappointing, confusing, not as we expect, and slow. But as I looked at my lemon tree and harvested its physical lemons, I found it had much to teach me and remind me about the spiritual harvest we are called to participate in. My physical lemon harvest needed attentiveness, perseverance and patience…so our spiritual harvesting process needs the same. But the patience was eventually rewarded with the true joy of the harvest.

Let us look to the Lord of the harvest as we work in the harvest fields in which He has placed us, and pray that we will be good harvesters for His glory!