BEARING GOOD AND LASTING FRUIT

BEARING GOOD AND LASTING FRUIT

 Jesus informed us that if we do not bear good and lasting fruit that He would cut us from the vine and cast us into the threshing fire. One may wonder how to bear good and lasting fruit, and there again Jesus informed us that we must cling to the vine and that He is the vine.
 
Clinging to the Divine Vine, Jesus, is making certain to put time aside every day to spend quietly with Him and to read His eternal and Holy Word. Clinging to the vine is also making certain to fellowship with other Christians. Going to church is a wonderful place to find fellowship and to gain support in our Christian walk. Bible studies are also a wonderful method of clinging to Christ and not only learning of Him, but deeply internalizing His Holy Word. Serving Christ in some manner will bring us everlasting joy, and the more that we faithfully serve Christ the greater our joy and peace will be.
 
If we do work at all of these disciplines, we will notice that our fruit is becoming a hundred or a thousand fold just as Christ promised it would. Very soon it is growing beyond our little garden and spreading over the land and sometimes it may even spread world-wide, but we must always daily return to our discipline of spending time alone with Our Creator through prayer, meditation, and Bible reading.
 
Jesus said that when we pray we should not be like the Pharisees who like to compose loud and pompous prayers to pray before everyone in an attempt to impress them. Instead, we should go into our closet and shut the door behind us and once there pray to God Who sees and hears all that we do in secret. 
 
When we seek to impress others with how very holy and devoted we are, we often cause scorn or jealousy. When we quietly go about living a holy and devoted life without calling out for applause for out good deeds, we truly impress others with the authenticity of our conversion because Jesus also informs all of His followers that they will know others by their fruits. Others will identify us as true followers of Christ only if we bear good and lasting fruit, and they will shun us if our fruit is rotten and sordid. We might be likened to wolves in sheep’s clothing.                      
 
So let us take at least an hour a day out of our busy schedules to spend alone with Our Creator and to read His Sacred Word. Then we will have the wonderful and most exciting adventure of always bearing good and lasting fruit and clinging to the Divine Vine. We will also have the discernment necessary to know others by their fruits.