Your life in Christ is not about you alone; it is about you and others. Share the Gospel with your friends, and watch as God bears much fruit through you and your friends.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a fruitful lesson.
My friend Tim is the owner of a vineyard – he took Ken and me for a tour of the whole hillside of grapes once, all different kinds. Not the sort of processed grapes you see in the grocery store, but heirloom grapes – small, little, tiny grapes with that rich, deep purple color. Oh, and the taste, oh, my goodness! The sweetness of that grape carried me back to 34 Monastery Avenue, where my grandmother had a grape arbor that covered the walkway to her back door. And after tasting Tim’s grapes, believe me, he’s heard every story I can ever recall as a child, swatting bees underneath my grandmother’s arbor, all so I could pick handfuls of her delicious fruit.
Tim has invested a lot in his vineyard, and he tends it so carefully; he watches for the first signs of budding fruit, because he has spent months tilling, pruning, watering, testing the humidity and the soil, the amount of nutrients, does it need fertilizing? He also stresses his vines – that means that he wraps a cord tightly around the base of the vine in order to make it strain and “reach harder” for water and nutrients, because if he does not stress his vines, he will get big, lush green leaves, but no fruit. Tim’s done all of this because, at the right moment, he is expecting his vines to bear big, luscious, prize-winning grapes. He’s looking for a lot of fruit – bunches of it. He wants his hard work to show for something!
And don’t think Almighty God is any less meticulous, ’cause in John 15:5, Jesus says, “[I’m] the vine; you are the branches. [And] If you remain in me and I in you” – get this – “you will bear much fruit.” Do you see the parallel? God has invested a lot in you, having given his only Son to save you from your sin. He’s watered you with his Word and pruned you through trials. He has tested you, and you have come through it all. And so, after all that, he wants you to bear much fruit. Yes, of course, the fruit of love, joy, peace in your life; the fruit of gentleness and kindness in all that you say and do. He takes great delight when your faith flowers and thrives like that.
But God is also after another kind of fruit. It is the way your life blesses other people. That is fruit. That is your life reproducing itself in others. Because God notices every time you sow seeds in their lives. He keeps tabs every time you water that seed with prayer. He rejoices when that friend in whom you have invested comes to Christ. When this happens, oh, my goodness, you’re not just bearing fruit; you’re bearing much fruit! For when they start sowing the Gospel seeds among their friends, you share in that harvest. If they are rewarded, you reap. If they are lifted up, you are raised with them. And then the wonderful cycle of sowing and harvesting repeats itself as those friends tell others about Jesus.
Ah, please, so, be vigilant about your sphere of influence. You are sowing seeds; your prayers are having an impact; the Lord of the vineyard is paying attention, and he wants to reap a great harvest as you bear much fruit for his kingdom, because your life in Christ is not about you alone; it is about you and others. So, give your words, give your time and prayers, give your smiles of encouragement, give practical help and passages of Scripture, as well as give the salvation message. Water it with your intercessions, and it will bear much fruit. Because if the love of Christ is rooted in you, it’ll show for something in your life and in the lives of your friends.
© Joni and Friends