“When your lives bear abundant fruit, you demonstrate that you are my mature disciples who glorify my Father!” John 15:8 TPT
About a month ago my friend, Margarita, and I were hanging out with her family in their back yard, where a few cherry trees can be found lining the fence. When her brother came outside she asked him to grab the ladder and pull down some red, ripe cherries for all of us to enjoy.
He moved the ladder from across the yard, climbed up to the top, and shoved some branches out of the way before he was able to grab the fruit that was within reach. Once the bag that he had filled was handed our way, we sifted through the bag, picking out the best, blemish free cherries to consume.
From the day that we accept Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives, we are called to grow in spiritual maturity and here, in John 15:8, John tells us that our bearing of fruit is a sign of this maturity.
“Remain in me, as I also 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
As always, Jesus provides everything for that which He has called us to. Just as Jesus is the source of the light we are to shine and the love we are to share, He is also the source of life to the fruit we are to bear. When we abide in Him, He gives us His Spirit, through which we will naturally bear abundant fruit with our lives.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23
There are so many ways that we can step back from these scriptures and the lessons that Jesus taught through this familiar image of a vine and branches and I want to encourage you to do just that. Are you abiding in Jesus? Are you bearing fruit as evidence of your growth in spiritual maturity? Is the fruit of the Spirit evident in your life?
But as I watched Margarita’s brother go through the process of retrieving the cherries, I was met with a whole new challenge surrounding this concept.
Is the fruit I am bearing within reach? Do those around me have to work for my love or my patience? Is my kindness only shared with those that have been kind to me or my faithfulness only to those who have proven their faithfulness to me? Do I respond with gentleness all the time or only when I’ve been met with gentleness?
We aren’t called to bear fruit that is high up in the tree and only available to those with a ladder, or those who put in the effort to climb the ladder. The fruit we bear should be in reach. In fact, I imagine that our fruit should be so in reach that some who pass by run into it on accident. They are suddenly caught off guard by our love, joy, peace… and in that, see a glimpse of Jesus by the fruit that we bear in Christ.
I want to encourage you to evaluate this in yourself today, just as I have done and will continue to do.
Is the fruit you are bearing within reach?
