Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser
Do you want your life to be fruitful and fulfilling? Jesus commands us all to be fruitful, and He empowers us to be productive, maximizing every bit of our skills, talents and resources so that we may fulfil His purpose for our lives. We were created to be examples, testimonies that prove God’s faithfulness by being a blessing to the people around us. God calls us to make a difference as we abide in Him. We’re called to bear fruit in this world so the world will know God. Whether it’s being a blessing in the office place, the campus or even in your own home, God has called us all to be a light. The proof that you are a disciple of Jesus is that you bear spiritual fruit. Spiritually fruitful people express the image of God to those around them. This article shows you that living a fruitful Christian life is the calling of every believer.
God wants you to be fruitful, so He talks about how important it is to abide in Him. It’s impossible not to bear fruit if you are connected to Him. In John 15 Jesus starts talking about how important it is for the disciples to abide in Him and He makes a comparison that I am the vine, you are the branches, and you have to remain in me. A branch can’t produce unless it’s attached to the vine. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5). So, how can you bear fruit? He’s the vine and all we are is a branch. All you’ve got to do is stay connected to Him and it’s impossible for you not to bear fruit, it’s impossible for God not to flow through you. The “fruit” is not produced by the believer, but by the Holy Spirit as we live in union with Him. Our part is to yield and trust; God’s part is to produce the fruit. He specifically chose you so He can flow through you to bear fruit.
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you” (John 15:16). He says you didn’t choose me; I chose you. You’ll often hear people say things like “I found the Lord”. Well, the Lord wasn’t the one who was lost. God found us and we don’t always perceive it this way, but God has pursued you. You didn’t choose God. God has chosen you. He’s persuaded you; He’s drawn you towards Himself and what did He choose you for? The Bible says “I’ve chosen you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain.”
God didn’t call you and choose you so that you could live a miserable life. As a matter of fact, in Galatians chapter 1 verse 4, the Bible says that Jesus gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil world. Not just the world to come, but now, this present evil world. We indeed have heaven waiting for us and that is a guarantee to all people who have a true relationship with God, and heaven is going to be full of joy, but the Lord came to deliver us from this present evil world. He saved you not just to live, but to bear fruit and let Him flow through you to benefit others. We are here to live profitable lives. Don’t be like the unprofitable servant. Make your life count.
He said He came to give you life and to give it to you more abundantly (see John 10:10). The Lord’s will for you is to be above only and not beneath, the head and not the tail (see Deuteronomy 28). He ordained you to bear fruit that remains so that whatever you ask the Father in Jesus’ name, you will receive. God’s will is for you to be blessed and be a blessing. Perhaps you look at your life and feel like it’s not yielding results. Even if you create something, it seems to be temporary and not long-lasting. This is because you haven’t experienced the best yet. I’m not saying that to condemn you but so I can encourage you that God has more for you.
" It’s impossible not to bear fruit if you are connected to God. "
If you don’t wake up in the morning and say; thank you Jesus for everything you’re doing in my life, if you aren’t excited about your future, it’s because you aren’t bearing fruit that remains, but know that this is God’s will for you. He wants you to bear fruit so that whatsoever you ask the Father in His name, He may give it to you. God wants you to be fruitful. God wants you to have an abundant life. If you’re not experiencing it, don’t assume you’re not good enough. I’m trying to get you to recognise that many people have not been bearing fruit because they aren’t expecting much. Many Christians are not looking for an abundant life. They’re just looking to get by, and that attitude will stop you from bearing fruit. One of the things that is such a godly thing is to really be hungry for God.
It’s not your choice whether to share the gospel or not. We don’t live for ourselves. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Corinthians 5:14, 15). “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). This is what God created you for, to bear fruit. God’s word says you didn’t choose me, I chose you and what were you chosen for? So that you could go and bear fruit. He says it’s not your choice whether you share your faith with people or not, I told you to be a witness for me.
You didn’t choose God, He chose you. We are supposed to be interpreting and speaking for Him. We aren’t interpreting and speaking and witnessing for ourselves. We represent Him and we work for Him. “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). So, God has given each one of us a ministry. You may ask, what kind of ministry? The Ministry of Reconciliation. And what does that involve? 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:19-20).
We don’t have the right to withhold the truth from people. 3 What we have seen and heard, we also announce it to you so that you can have fellowship with us. Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that our joy can be complete. 5 This is the message that we have heard from him and announce to you: “God is light and there is no darkness in him at all” (1 John 1:3-5). We are supposed to be telling people things about God because He didn’t choose us to sit there and withhold the truth from them. For what purpose were we chosen? So that we could go and bear fruit and that our fruit would remain, that whatsoever we ask of the Father in His name, He may give it to us. And so, asking from the Father and receiving is dependent on recognizing that God has chosen and brought you to Himself. You didn’t find God, He found you. He has a purpose for your life, and it is abundance, and it is not just abundance for you personally, but it’s so that you can go and bear fruit.
