I am the vine, you are the
branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me
you can do nothing. John 15:5
There
are those who feel that they must be constantly laboring for the Lord in order
to meet God’s high standards. Jesus gave a clear picture of what our
relationship to Him ought to be like. He is the vine, the source of our life.
We are the branches, the place where fruit is produced. As we receive life from
Christ, the natural, inevitable result is that fruit is produced in our lives.
In
our zeal to produce “results” for our Lord, we sometimes become so intent on
fruit production that we neglect abiding in Christ. We may feel that “abiding”
is not as productive or that it takes too much time away from our fruit
production. Yet Jesus said that it is not our activity that
produces fruit, it is our relationship with Him.
Jesus
gave an important warning to His disciples. He cautioned that if they ever attempted
to live their Christian life apart from an intimate relationship with Him, they
would discover that they ceased to produce any significant results. They might
exert great effort for the kingdom of God, yet when they stopped to account for
their lives, they would find only barrenness. One of the most dramatic acts
Jesus ever performed was cursing a fig tree that had failed to produce fruit
(Mark 11:14). Are you comfortable in abiding, or are you impatient to be
engaged in activity? If you will remain steadfastly in fellowship with Jesus, a
great harvest will be the natural by-product.
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