Devotional from The Vine

Here's Today's Devotional from The Vine...

Fruit Bearing

I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the
same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. -
John 15:5

What is fruit in a Christian? We know what fruit is in the natural world,
and we know its uses, but what is fruit in the spiritual world? It cannot be
merely
Christian activities. It is true that well directed activities are fruits;
but there is danger in these days, when work is so lauded, that we overlook
another kind of fruit which is certainly as essential as the putting forth
of consecrated energy. In nature, fruit is part of the branch itself, not
something
apart from it. There are spiritual fruits that are part of the life: growths
into holiness and Christlikeness. Thus St. Paul says, “The fruit of the
Spirit
is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
temperance.� Very evidently these fruits are such as appear in the character
itself. The aim of Christ's religion is not merely to make workers of us, to
send us out to do good in the world, to fight against evil, to help the
weak,
and to minister to the sorrowing and the suffering. Its first aim is to make
us good, to transform our character, to produce in us the likeness of
Christ.
Then we shall be ready to minister. While, therefore, we are to be fruitful
in every good work, we are to seek also to be fruitful in the qualities of
Christlike character.

In nature the tree's fruits feed the hunger of men. No tree consumes its own
fruits; it drops them for those who come to gather them. This suggests that
we should not be selfish in our fruit bearing. We should not seek the
culture of our characters merely for our own sake. Our aim should be to
provide something
in our lives that will feed others and bless the world. All about us are
hungry hearts. There are those who crave sympathy and love, those who yearn
for
comfort, those who desire to be saved. We are so to live that our lives
shall yield bread for these.

Apply This To Your Life Today.