Day 4 of Producing Fruit
The Kingdom Given to Fruit-Bearers
Reading: Matthew 21:43; Galatians 5:22-23; John 15:1-8
Jesus declared that the kingdom would be given to a people who would produce its fruit. That people is us. This is not a burden to carry with anxiety but a purpose to carry with clarity. John 15 makes plain that fruit-bearing is not achieved through striving but through abiding. The branch does not strain to produce the grape. It remains connected to the vine and the fruit comes. The danger is not that we try too hard. The danger is that we fill our lives with activity that looks like fruitfulness but is disconnected from the vine. Busyness and fruitfulness are not the same thing.
Reflection: Are the things occupying most of your time and energy actually connected to abiding in Christ, or have they become substitutes for it?
Reading: Matthew 21:43; Galatians 5:22-23; John 15:1-8
Jesus declared that the kingdom would be given to a people who would produce its fruit. That people is us. This is not a burden to carry with anxiety but a purpose to carry with clarity. John 15 makes plain that fruit-bearing is not achieved through striving but through abiding. The branch does not strain to produce the grape. It remains connected to the vine and the fruit comes. The danger is not that we try too hard. The danger is that we fill our lives with activity that looks like fruitfulness but is disconnected from the vine. Busyness and fruitfulness are not the same thing.
Reflection: Are the things occupying most of your time and energy actually connected to abiding in Christ, or have they become substitutes for it?
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