The Work of Bearing Fruit

Read: Joshua 3-4 & John 15
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself…” John 15:4

Examine:
Abide has three meanings: 1) To accept Jesus as Savior. 2) To continue or persevere in believing. 3) Believing, loving obedience.

Apply:
When I first read this chapter it can come across as a “too good to be true” passage. It sounds simple. Abide in Jesus, bear much fruit, ask for anything I want, and all in life will be well. My flesh can quickly latch on to this passage and turn it into the ultimate self-help program. The benefits of this passage are literally too good to be true. The promise is intimacy with Jesus, a life that bears fruit, and the power of the Holy Spirit working through me. But like anything in life that has lasting value this verse has work associated with it.

Salvation is not tied to work. Jesus in verse 3 tells me that I am clean because of the word He has spoken to me. Salvation absolutely is not tied to works. Fruit bearing, on the other hand is. I must persevere in believing. Believing in Jesus does not come natural and it does not come easy. Many things will rise up against it. Many days will leave me wondering and tempt me to fall away. The forces of hell are set against me holding fast to my belief in Christ. I must determine at the beginning of each day to persevere until the end.

I also have to practice loving, believing obedience. My life is not intended to be lived as a mindless drone or beat-down slave. God desires me to follow Him with love and joy in my obedience to Him. I have to commit myself to the hard work of doing what He asks because I believe it is best for me and because my love for God longs to see Him pleased.

Pray:
My life is to be about the Father’s glory. At the end of the day that is the only measuring stick of success for me. The only way I can do that is to abide in You, Jesus. When You spoke these words to the disciples You did so knowing the battles they would face. In the same way I know that You understand the struggles I have to endure in applying these principals of abiding to my life. You know now, like You knew then, that it is impossible for a man to do this on His own so You had the Father send the Holy Spirit to be my guide and strength.

That is the point of my prayer today. The Holy Spirit is more of a mystery to me than He is a blessed assurance of my salvation, a personal mentor, or an overflowing power. He exists to me more in theory than in tangible presence and understanding. I do not know how to change that except to acknowledge things are not as they should be and pray for You to bring about a change.