Remain in Me and Be Fruitful!

In John 15:4-5, Jesus tells His disciples, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. Apart from me you can do nothing." Wow... I know I want to have a fruitful life, one that, like fruit, provides nourishment, sweetness, and beauty to the lives of others. (See "Don't Waste Your Life" below.) Jesus says that won't happen - the result will be NOTHING, barrenness - unless we remain in Him! But this is a hard thing to do in our busy, sensual, God-ignoring culture, isn't it? How do you remain in Christ, so that your life becomes fruitful?

The answer is simple, practical, and unavoidable. In Psalm 1, we're told that the person whose life is blessed, that is, fruitful, will not plant themselves (keep regular company) among those who sin freely and live cynically. Rather, if you delight in, and moment-by-moment reflect on, God's law - His personal revelation of Himself and in His priorities for creation and humanity in particular, you will be "like a tree that is planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season and its leaf does not wither. In all that [you] do, [you] will prosper." In other words, you will make a difference in God's world. Jeremiah expands on this image, saying that this meditation must be couple with trusting in the LORD - living as if what God has said is true, trusting that He'll come through on His end. The remarkable thing is that this life of trust results in deeper confidence in your faith; Isaiah says that such a tree "does not fear when the heat comes, and ... is not anxious in a year of drought" (Jeremiah 17:7-8). Perhaps you're already experiencing a fair amount of heat in your job, or feel a sense of drought, as you're away from the greenhouse that TWU can be. Fruitfulness and confidence - both are tied to knowing and living out the "law" of God.

The New Testament continues this theme. In Philippians, Paul prays specifically for fruit in this church: "And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." (1:9-11) Similarly, he exhorts the Colossians, "And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God" (1:9-10). What hits me is that the source of fruitfulness is always rooted in knowledge, wisdom, discernment, understanding; in other words, what goes in your mind to help you see and understand the world - your meditation. Jesus also echoed this, in encouragement and warning: "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil" (Matthew 12:34-35). As Psalm 1 says, our meditation ought to be on God's idea of Reality (his law, His word), and then He will bear the fruit.

The Scriptures pick up these themes so much that I can't cover them all here. If you've got the time, search for "fruit" in Bible Gateway, and see what you find. In the meantime, let me encourage you: if you have slacked off in making Scripture part of your daily diet, put your roots down again. If you have never really done it, put your roots down! If you don't know where to start, may I suggest: The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7); Ephesians or Colossians; Isaiah 40-66; the psalms; I'm loving Hebrews. There's enough there to keep you meditating (it may take some memorization) and then acting as if it was true (in other words, "trust" or "faith") for the rest of your life. And as you begin to taste the goodness of God's revelation, you'll be hungry enough to come back for more every day and night of your summer.

O Jesus, make us fruitful people this summer!