fruit that lasts

This morning I was reading John 15 on “The Vine and the Branches”. I desire for God to bear fruit with my life. I have been thinking about this concept as I have been thinking a lot about discipleship.

In the Greek whenever it talks about fruit, it is talking about a continuing process. And I was thinking about how fruit naturally multiplies itself by its seeds. It naturally reproduces its life in planting seeds that sprout into more fruit and more fruit that goes on to do the same! Just as we are called to do with our lives.

But that is a big responsibility to reproduce our lives or multiply our spiritual lives in the lives of others. How are we supposed to even do that?

The answer:

Remain. To Remain in Christ. Just remain. That’s all. Here are some other meanings of “remain” to meditate on:

Abide, cling, continue, delay, dwell, endure, last, linger, persist, reside, rest, tarry, wait…. In Christ.

Then I read, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (john 15:5). But I was thinking about how many things we do apart from him. We build big businesses, we develop non-profits that raise billions of dollars for good causes, make good music, build houses, neighborhoods and cities, we’ve developed the internet and modern communications, cars, planes, and space travel. How much has the human race done while not necessarily remaining in him?

So what could Jesus have meant?

Maybe he meant we can do nothing ETERNAL apart from him. Nothing that lasts can be done apart from him. Even further he says, “if anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” (v. 6) So what can we do that lasts?

Only two things will last for eternity: his word and our souls. (our relationship with him). Investing in knowing him through his word and investing in others. The return on that investment is unimaginable and probably not fully realized until we see him face to face. A continuing process which bears fruit long after we are gone.

We cannot produce the fruit he calls us to produce on our own efforts (apart from him). That is a relief. We can choose where to invest our time and our lives. I believe the best choice is to work on our own personal relationship with Christ. By remaining in him, listening to him, planting his words in our hearts, growing in him and investing in others. He will do the rest of the work by producing the fruit that stems from Himself, The True Vine.