How do you bear or produce fruit? It seems like there should be a simple answer but if it is so simple then why don’t we see more fruit produced?

Someone who doesn’t know a lot about farming may say you just need to plant a seed, water it, and it will grow. The experienced farmer knows better. A lot of work goes into seeing a fruitful harvest. He has to cultivate the ground, kill the weeds, fertilize, plant, water, remove weeds that can choke your plants, and do a lot more work to see a plentiful harvest.

So it is in the life of a Christian. The Lord works with His children to help them produce fruit for God’s glory. He cultivates, plants, and removes those things in our lives that can choke us. God fertilizes with His word and waters so we will produce good fruit in our lives.

In John 15, Jesus tells us He is the true vine. This vine is what feeds life eternal. Because Jesus lives, whosoever believes in Him will have everlasting life. God doesn’t accept a dead branch. Rather He wants a lively, producing branch and the way that is possible is to abide within the vine and the life of the true vine in you. That is what the Bible means in Romans 12:1, “Ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.” You can’t produce any of the Lord’s fruit in your life except you first be united with Christ. Jesus tells us in John 15:5, “ I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

After you have a union with Jesus then you have communion with Him daily. In John 15:4 the Bible says, “Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” This is the key that will unlock the door to fruitfulness; when people realize they can’t live the life of a believer on their own and fully depend upon the indwelling Spirit of God to guide. Then and only then will we see more purged, pruned, and producing Christians. To abide means to have a close presence or to have personal fellowship with. It is a place of peace and pardon that only God provides. The life I am teaching about is not a list of dos and don’ts. The saved life isn’t predicated by rules and restrictions but rooted in a relationship with the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

This, my friend, is how we can be “fruit bearing” Christians. Grow for Jesus and allow this fruit to feed others who are hungry for the truth.

Tune in to WBCU 103.5 FM Sundays at noon for the Shining Light Broadcast. I preach a 15-minute message that I pray will be a blessing to those who listen. If you have a prayer concern, comment, or question, please write to: Voice of Victory, Attn: David Burrell, PO Box 1221, Pacolet, SC 29372, message me on Facebook, or e-mail me at daveburrell@live.com.