“Grow up into Him in all things” (Eph. iv. 15).
Harvest is a time of ripeness. Then the fruit and grain are fully
developed, both in size and weight. Time has tempered the acid of the
green fruit. It has been mellowed and softened by the rains and the heat
of summer. The sun has tinted it into rich colors, and at last it is ready
and ripe to fall into the hand. So Christian life ought to be. There are
many things in life that need to be mellowed and ripened. Many Christians
have orchards full of fruit, but they are all green and sharp to the
taste. There is a great deal in them that is good, but it is incomplete,
and very sharp and sour. Perhaps something goes wrong in your domestic
life, and you get flurried and cross and lose your confidence in God, and
then, of course, your Christian joy. These things produce regret and all
kinds of misery. There are many things day after day you are sorry for.
You know you are not ripe and mellow and you cannot become so by trying.
You cannot bring the sweetness in. It must be wrought out from within.