"Remain in me, and I will
remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.
Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." (John 15:4 NIV)
I often meet people who wonder how they can obtain the
fruit that Jesus encouraged us to bear.
The bad news is that no one can bear such fruit.
The good news is that this fruit comes naturally if we
remain in Jesus the Christ.
In other words, we cannot obtain these delicious,
mouth-watering fruit by ourselves. We have to step aside and hand control to our
King of Kings. We must stop depending on our own "clever" initiatives, and start
depending upon Jesus Himself.
Let's think about this for a moment. Just how does
fruit develop on a vine or tree? First of all, it must stay connected to the
plant, and secondly, it must drink water! And in order to drink water, it must
thirst! The Scriptures refer to God's Holy Spirit, our Counselor in all things,
as water. Therefore we must thirst after God's Spirit!
"'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will
flow from within him.' By this he meant the Spirit." (John 7:37-39 NIV)
While in Iceland, I discovered pure drinking water.
Wow! Why is it so pure? Because it has percolated underground for a long time,
making it exceptionally pure for drinking.
We, too, can drink such pure spiritual water, by
spending time with our Maker, the King of Kings of the universe.
I know that we can keep ourselves quite busy in this
life, to the point that it seems like we can't even catch a breath of fresh air.
But are all of our activities, no matter how important they seem, really worth
the stress we are going through?
If we had been that busy when we encountered our
spouse, would we have had the time to fall in love with one another? Or would we
have missed the love of our lives?
Have you noticed that when we are so much on the run,
there isn't even time to take a sip of water? Have you observed that no matter
how long you spend on all the small stuff, you never get a handle on it? The
work never ends. And neither does the stress!
Are we missing something by mimicking the world around
us? Isn't taking time to be with God much more satisfying than anything else?
Isn't loving our family and friends of much more importance than running around
like a beheaded chicken?
Maybe, just maybe, this is why our fruit rarely grows
and maybe, just maybe, this is why we have a hard time noticing God at work in
our neighbourhood.
"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed
you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you
whatever you ask in my name." (John 15:16 NIV)
Do we want results? Maybe it is time to slow down and
contemplate what really matters in life. If we can't hear from God, maybe, just
maybe we have fallen into the trap of busy…ness, neglecting what matters the
most.
Ummmm, that water sure tastes good!
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
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The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.