When D’Aun planted her olive grove I learned about the alternate bearing nature of the olive tree. One year it produces more than the average amount of fruit, and another year it produces less but invests into deeper roots. Well, it’s not quite that simple, but you get the idea.
My takeaway from this? Our spiritual lives are much the same. Sometimes we bear a lot of fruit (and you are welcome to leave this blog and go read Galatians 5). Other times we do not outwardly look like we’re doing much, but our energies are poured into strengthening our root system. Or in human terms, our spiritual foundation.
Tomorrow we leave for vacation, and it occurred to me how this alternate bearing idea has a lot of applications. Sometimes we work, sometimes we rest. Sometimes we play, sometimes we reflect.
Nothing new here of course — any reader of Ecclesiastes 3 knows there are seasons for everything. But planting that olive orchard brought it home for me, and I hope for you too.