Farmers and Fruit

7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer
waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the
early and the late rains (James 5:7).

We have already talked a bit about farmers in one of our devotionals from a few days ago, but
James brings up the subject again in our verse for today. Farming is challenging work for a
number of reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that it demands a high degree of patience.
How do you feel about patience? Is that hard or easy for you? For most people, being
patient is not an easy things to handle. Consider how fast paced our culture is today, especially
with our technology. How would you feel if your Facebook timeline took 5 minutes to refresh?
Would you spend as much time on Facebook? Probably not. What about if you had to wait in
line every single day for 45 minutes to get your mail? What the only way to get to school was to
walk? No matter how far?
All of these things would demand a high degree of patience. Now back to the farmer.
The farmer has to have much patience as well. He has to wait for it to rain. He has to wait for
his crops to grow. He has to wait all winter long for a new Spring and Summer to come around
before he can plant new seeds. Lots of waiting and hoping happen in the life of a farmer.
James exhorts us to embrace the patience of a farmer as we wait for the return of Jesus.
Sometimes it is going to feel like it is taking too long! But James reminds us that just as a farmer
yield a crop every year, we’ll yield our blessed hope of communion with Jesus soon enough.
Pressing into faith and trust makes the waiting all the sweeter.

Read Romans 12:12
• What other attributes should accompany our patience?
• How do those things contribute to or help us be more patient?

Prayer
Our Father, thank you for the promise that Jesus will return to make all things right. We want to
be with him. We can’t wait! Thank you for this promise that makes our life full of meaning.
Apart from this promise our lives would be hopeless. We know that you are trustworthy and full
of all truth. We wait in hope. In Jesus’ name, Amen.