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Abide in Me
“I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5
At this stage in my journey with Christ, I have been privileged to work with many amazing people in many different church settings. It takes many hands at St. Martin’s for us to carry out the many ministries we support, alongside leading our people in worship several times each week. There are those who feel that they must be constantly laboring for the Lord in order to meet God’s high standards. Jesus gave a clear picture of what our relationship to Him ought to be like. He is the vine, the source of our life. We are the branches, the place where fruit is produced. As we receive life from Christ, the natural, inevitable result is that fruit is produced in our lives.
In our zeal to produce “results” for our Lord, we sometimes become so intent on fruit production that we neglect abiding in Christ. We may feel that “abiding” is not as productive or that it takes too much time away from our fruit production. Yet, Jesus said that it is not our activity that produces fruit, it is our relationship with Him.
Jesus gave an important warning to His disciples. He cautioned that if they, as His followers, ever attempted to live their lives apart from an intimate relationship with Him, they would discover that they ceased to produce any significant results. They might exert great effort for the kingdom of God, yet when they stopped to account for their lives, they would find only barrenness.
One of the most dramatic acts Jesus ever performed was cursing a fig tree that had failed to produce fruit (Mark 11:14). I am certainly guilty about spending more time in church activity, albeit important and worthy, and less time simply abiding in Christ. I believe this is a struggle for many Christians. Are you comfortable abiding, or are you restless to be engaged in activity? If you will remain steadfastly in fellowship with Jesus, a great harvest will be the natural by-product.
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