The Secret of Fruitfulness

UV 482/10,000 John 15 v 5 The secret of fruitfulness Joh 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. Jesus is the Root and Offspring. He is the root of the vine that produces the branches or offspring in real –time. If the branches remain grafted in Him, these produce much fruit. Fruit from the Lord’s perspective is all round excellence: we need to excel in truth or knowledge of the truth, zealousness for the truth, doing of good works and in living a life of righteousness marked by the fruit of the spirit: love,joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, humility and self control. The secret of fruitfulness is revealed in this uni-verse: an abiding personal relationship with God through Jesus. Without Christ we can do nothing. It implies that without Christ we can do nothing of permanent or eternal value- things that will stand the test of fire. The converse is also true: with Him we can do all things, that is- all things of eternal value. The word “ abiding” has many nuances: it means living with, living in, living by and living for.. When we live with Christ, live in Him and live for Him, all His grace and mercy will pervade the inner core of our being. He lives in us primarily through the Holy Spirit. We live by Christ through our intake and internalization of the Word of God. It is the life-giving sap and bread of God. It nourishes and strengthens us. It urges us to be fruitful for God and it also shows us how we can be fruitful. The account of how Jesus cursed the fig tree that bore no fruit is instructive. The tree was not fulfilling its God-ordained purpose. It was consuming air, water, minerals and occupying space. But, it had self-limited or cursed itself. Similarly, we limit ourselves and curse ourselves to live a life of failure or a living death when we live a life apart from God in Christ. The story of the unfruitful fig tree is planted in the Word not as a threat but as a warning to believers to be fruitful for the glory of God. Wherever we are planted, we must excel in that field. We must not just be consumers of happiness but producers and contributors. We must not just hoard our blessings but impart these to others. Prateep V Philip