"Fruit"

Lots of things I understand,

And lots of things I don’t,

Lots of things I know I can,

And lots of them I won’t.

And, yes, I ask the Lord above,

For wisdom that I need,

And to fill my heart with love,

To plant a righteous seed.

Each time I saddle up and ride,

I pray my day will be,

Hours in which I will abide,

In Christ who died for me.

To bear the fruit He has ordained,

A difference for to make,

To be a man who’d Spirit-trained,

Authentically, no fake.

And as He prunes what needs to change,

His will for me obey,

My lifestyle He will rearrange,

Old habits will not stay.

Teach me, O Vine, to bear the fruit,

A branch in You to be,

The DNA from Kingdom root,

That lasts eternally.

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5, NAS)

Jesus compares Himself to a grapevine and His followers to branches. A strong connection between the two will produce fruit, and when it does, pruning occurs to increase the harvest. Those who produce no fruit are discarded altogether. This means that Jesus intends for our relationship with Him to make an eternal impact in the lives of others. We are made fruitful through the Holy Spirit’s power and our willingness to cooperate with Him. Obeying Him assures that we live in a state of unbroken “abiding” in the Lord. We live there, and consciously stay there, which makes it possible for our fruit to be both consistent and permanent. This is God’s will for every disciple. Abiding means everything is possible. Apart from Him we can do nothing. Nothing means nothing of eternal value.

Lord, help us abide in the vine, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Alfredo Rodriguez, used by permission. Thanks, Alfredo, and God bless you.