Can you identify? I mean, don't you sometimes feel that you are told to be kind, be loving, have joy, have peace, and the list goes on and on, and yet no matter how hard you try, it just seems to fall so short? You find yourself weary of hearing about how you are supposed to be, but not seeming to be able to accomplish it.
Am I the only one?
Jesus knew that our natural bent would be to seek to be "Christian" apart from Him. And so He just came right out and said to us in John 15 that apart from Him, we can do nothing....NOTHING! He begins to correlate our relationship with Him to that of a vine and its branches, saying "I am the Vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me, you will bear much fruit."
In thinking about that for a minute, let's look at a branch. Do we see it working very hard to produce the fruit? Do we see straining and toiling? Nope. All we see is a branch hanging there, attached to the vine. The nourishment needed to bear fruit comes up from the ground, through the roots, to the Vine and then out through the branches. Without the branch being attached, there would be no fruit.
So clearly, our part is not to feverishly strive and strain to bear much fruit. Our part to play is to make sure we are staying attached to the Vine, the only Source by which the fruit will come. The Bible uses the word "abide", which means "to be at home with". It goes back to walking with God. When we are walking with God, 24/7 listening, attentive, recognition of His presence, and conversational intimacy with my Father, then we are "abiding" in the Vine. It is then and only then that we will bear much fruit.
Apart from the Vine, we are unable and incapable of producing real fruit. Now we can produce imitation fruit: fruit that we muster up and others perceive as the real thing; you know, like that old plastic fruit at your Grandmother's house that stayed in that basket on the kitchen table for 50 years and other than a little dust looked as much like fresh fruit as it could! But you know the problem with fake fruit? It gets revealed as soon you get close to it and touch it. And it gets revealed that our fruit is plastic when struggles come up close and get personal.
Jesus, as He was walking with His disciples cursed a fig tree for not having figs (Matt. 21:18-21 and Mark 11:12-14, 20-24). Ever wondered why? Because the fig tree, though out of season, contained leaves. Fig trees develop fruit before leaves and therefore, if leaves were on that tree, there should have been fruit. The tree was being deceiving, because though it had leaves, it had no fruit. As a result, Jesus cursed the tree for misrepresenting itself and before long, the tree withered away.
When we choose to live our lives apart from walking with God, yet try to display His fruit, we are misrepresenting Him. We pretend to have His fruit and may even look like we do from afar, but in reality, as people get closer, they find there is no fruit at all. Only a facade. And honestly, when we do this, we make God sick. As a matter of fact, in Revelation, Jesus puts it this way: "I'd rather you be hot or cold, but because you are lukewarm, I will spew you out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:15&16) This is a hard teaching, but we can't ignore what the Bible says!
When we are not connected to the Vine, it will only take a short time before our fellowship with God has withered to virtually nothing. We may still have a relationship to Him, but our fellowship is void, and thus our lives are unfruitful and thus lack abundance. And just take that concept and apply it to your marriage! When you and your spouse do not stay connected, it is not long before the fellowship begins to wither and threaten the relationship.
So as you begin another week with Your Maker, Redeemer, and Friend, walk with Him. Abide with Him. Practice His Presence with you 24/7. As you do, watch His life overtake your life. See His fruit burst forth from your life just as natural as breathing. And practice it with your spouse, and see if new life and new blooms begin to appear! Away with the plastic! I want the real thing!
May we all become branches that display His fruit as we walk with Him!
Along this journey with you,
Jena
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