THE FRUIT OF THE VINE.

Before I came to Christ, it’s sad to say this, but I didn’t have a good impression of what it meant to be a Christian. People I met who claimed to be followers of Jesus weren’t the best examples. They actually made me feel I was better living my life away from Christ! I found non-believers in my life more loving and humbler than the Christians I encountered. Christians can often be depicted as intolerant and judgmental towards anyone who isn’t a part of what seems to be a members-only club, reserved for the chosen ones. This picture is the opposite of the life we are called to live as followers of Jesus. As Christians, we have a standard to live up to! To be “Christ-like” is to understand what Jesus expected from his disciples because that’s what we are when we accept Jesus into our hearts. But what does that mean? Does it mean we come to church on a Sunday for a few hours, get our word from whoever the speaker of the day is, then go home and continue on with whatever “life” looks like for us, then do it all again the following Sunday, showing no evidence of change in our lives? Of course not!

First let’s start with the word “Disciple.” It means to be a student, a learner, a follower. Someone who accepts the leadership of another. So to be a disciple means we follow Christ. We learn from Him and continue to learn from him because we always remain students, we always remain teachable. We turn our backs on our former lives, we change because He changes us. We stay close to Him and give Him all authority over our lives so that He can lead us to eternal life! But how do we know we are true disciples? What is the evidence? Let’s take a look at John 15:1-8, where it talks about Jesus being the true vine.

A vine can produce grapes, and the fruit that is born is of similar nature and quality of the plant from which it comes. We are the branches and Jesus is our vine. And what we put out to the world should reflect His nature. Being a disciple is about producing fruit! We are expected to produce plenty of fruit, and we produce fruit when we remain in Jesus! But what is this Fruit? In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul talks about the fruit of the spirit being love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The fruit is the change that following Christ invokes, the sign that the Holy Spirit is really working in us. We start from producing no fruit but being made clean, purified. Now pruned with the word, we start to produce a little fruit at first, then God tends to us, and we go on to produce plenty! John 15:4 “REMAIN IN ME, AND I WILL REMAIN IN YOU. FOR A BRANCH CANNOT PRODUCE FRUIT IF IT IS SEVERED FROM THE VINE, AND YOU CANNOT BE FRUITFUL UNLESS YOU REMAIN IN ME.” Remember I said we are the branch, so to be severed means not being in a relationship with Christ. It’s not about losing your salvation. It’s more about a loss of fellowship with Him and a loss of reward, which can have a serious effect on our spiritual lives. We can become useless to ourselves, to God, and to other people. Remaining in Jesus is to have a continued relationship of true intimacy with Him. The way we do this is through creating spiritual disciplines, like daily Bible intake, prayer, worship, spending time with Him in our secret place, meditating on His word, and really applying it to our lives. We should also invite the Holy Spirit to work within us. This is how we make Him the true foundation, the root, the vine of our lives. This is how we become fruitful!

JOHN 15:6 “Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.” Sometimes we have to take an honest look at ourselves and see what fruit we are producing. Are we even producing fruit? Or have we turned into the useless branch withering away, waiting to be burned? Remember, fruit isn’t hidden. For example, when we look at a fruit tree, we know whether it’s an apple tree or an orange tree because the fruit is visible. There is no confusion about what fruit you are getting. When people look at us, they should know what fruit we have! They should see Christ in us, and not just at church on Sunday! We are not called to be casual Christians. When we are out in the world, we are called to be the light and salt of the earth. People should be drawn to us like they were drawn to Christ because of our love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control!

JOHN 15:7 “BUT IF YOU REMAIN IN ME AND MY WORDS REMAIN IN YOU, YOU MAY ASK FOR ANYTHING YOU WANT, AND IT WILL BE GRANTED!” This is not a one-way relationship. We give ourselves to Him and He gives Himself to us in return! This is what makes us fruitful. God sees the fruit we produce through Christ and He tends to us, designing our paths and being the architect in our lives so that we produce even more fruit! When we move away from Christ, we stop bearing fruit. We stop being useful to the kingdom, we start to wither away spiritually. When we stop remaining in Jesus, we stop being in true alignment with God’s plan. Remember, God has the blueprint for our lives already, but when we come out of alignment, we start drawing up our own plans and hand them over to God, expecting them to be done for us, all because we ask for it in Jesus’ name! We start to treat Him like a genie god, then get mad when wishes are not granted. But when we abide in Him, our plans fit in with the blueprint that God already has for our lives. So now when we pray and ask for what we wish, it will be done for us because we are in alignment.

JOHN 15:8 “WHEN YOU PRODUCE MUCH FRUIT, YOU ARE MY TRUE DISCIPLES. THIS BRINGS GREAT GLORY TO MY FATHER.” Every good thing we do gives glory to the Father. The seeds of encouragement that you plant among your brothers and sisters, the patience you show your neighbor, the acts of kindness that you show strangers, the times when you respond with love when speaking in truth, all this is evidence that we are disciples, not just fans of Jesus! People we meet should be attracted to the light within us, they should want to know why we are so different, what makes us so peculiar. They should want to know how and what caused change in us. That is how I came to Christ. It was finally meeting Christians living life the way God calls us to live. They did nothing special, but through the fruit that they produced I was attracted to them like a moth to a flame. There was a peace that they had, that was a peace that I had never experienced and I knew that nothing money could buy would ever give me that peace. And I knew this because they were not rich, their lives were not perfect, yet I felt desperate to have whatever it was that they had. What they had was JESUS! Their light is what led me down the path to truth. All they did was bear fruit, and in doing so, I am here today, my life completely changed. And that is all we need to do, live a Christ-led life, bearing the fruit that is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. And when people want to know our secret, now we get to share the good news that is Jesus Christ! And you didn’t have to go to your local town square screaming aggressively about burning in hell if you didn’t repent.

If you feel that maybe your fruit production needs some improvement, ask Him for what you need. If it’s more patience, pray for it! Just don’t be surprised when He brings someone into your life who tests your patience. Remember that God isn’t a genie, expect to put the work in. Also, look at the spiritual disciplines you have, and if there is a lack of them, commit to spending more time with Him. Remember, the Holy Spirit resides in you, and just like we nourish our bodies with food daily, we must also do the same spiritually. Some of us are spiritually malnourished! Here is my prayer for all of us as we continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

Father, we thank you for this day, thank you for allowing us to see another day with you. Each day you give us is a reminder that we have a purpose and assignment to fulfill. Thank you for loving us and choosing us, and thank you for the grace and mercy you show us every day. Help us to become more like you, Lord. Light the fires in our hearts so that we have a renewed hunger for you. Help us to bear good fruit, fruit that not only glorifies you but is nourishing to the people we encounter. May your light continue to shine brightly within us, that it will be a guide to people who seek to know you. Help us to share your goodness boldly with others. Give us a hunger that can only be satisfied by your word. Help us to become better students so we can do great things in your name. In Jesus name I pray, AMEN.