Called to Bear Fruit

Since I was small, 
just tasting your Word, 
I’ve longed to be like Joseph,  
whose blessing prophesied 
rampant fruitfulness. 

Let me be a fruitful vine! 
Let my roots drink deep waters 
so my shoots stretch vibrantly 
up and over the walls, 
fruit falling freely. 

I desperately need
your streams of living water
drenched with plant food
to fill me and nourish me
so that I feed others.

This is my calling:
to grow and to blossom, 
see my flowering turn to fruit,
rich clusters full of juice, 
nourishing hungry souls.

Two days ago there was rain where we live, then temperatures suddenly shaking off their late-winter vibes into the warmth of spring. It only took 48 hours for bare branches to spurt out baby green leaves and for lawns to suddenly come alive. Potent warmth and water were what they were yearning for!

We come alive like that when our thirsty hearts receive just what we need for growth:

³⁷ On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, Jesus stood up and shouted out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and ³⁸ let the one who believes in me drink. Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.'” ³⁹ (Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.) (Jn. 7:37-39 NET)

Those of us who believe, who have been joined to Jesus (remember, he is the vine and we are the branches, cf. John 15), we now have that living water in our inner being. We often call the place where we have invited Jesus to dwell our “heart.” He lives in us through his Spirit, just as he promised:

“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. ²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. (Jn. 14:25 NAU)

The Spirit is our counselor who teaches us what Jesus said, and how Jesus wants us to live out his words. It is not enough to just know what he commanded us to do; we must actually put it into practice. When it shows up in how we act, speak and serve, then we become fruitful! We are offering sustenance to others through the empowerment of the Spirit in us by obeying the words that promote that kind of growth.

As Jesus said when explaining the rich meaning of this imagery, that we are like branches attached to the trunk of the vine (which is Jesus), his agape love is the key element, flowing into us and out of us. This is love that shows itself by acting for the welfare of others, kindness that reaches beyond barriers for their good.  Remaining in him, and with him remaining in us, we are in complete union in a house whose essence is love. Over and over he underlined that to be able to live with him, making him our home,  we must keep his words, his commands:

⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. ⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  (Jn. 15:1 NIV)

Jesus gave us a rich collection of his words through his disciples, who wrote them down for us. It takes deep meditation to have them rooted in our hearts. We need to process and understand them. Living them out includes struggling to apply all that he said in his “Beatitudes,” and all his parables. This is a high calling that stretches us beyond what is considered “normal” in our culture. Then comes that last command:

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:18-20 NIV)

It is a huge task that takes us out of spaces where we feel comfortable. He makes it possible, wherever we are, by being with us ALWAYS—his Spirit living in us:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 NIV)

So here we are, you and I who are contemplating the richness of all these words, longing to be more fruitful than we can ever be on our own. In union with Jesus through his Spirit, we are graced with a relationship we must cultivate by listening to the Spirit as he nourishes us with living water, by digesting the words and commands our God has left us in Scripture, then by “producing fruit” as we respond to the Spirit’s guidance daily. We are offered the best spiritual companionship ever, one overflowing with that amazing love we do not deserve but that is poured out on us and in us. Drawing our sustenance there, we can learn to do what he has commanded us to do.

What is he putting on your heart these days? Are you hearing his prompts?

My personal experience this year is this: he keeps directing me to certain Scripture passages to memorize, and while doing that I begin to contemplate what those words actually mean and how they are relevant to my life. I should not be surprised that time and time again new situations, ongoing conversations and unexpected challenges come up that direct me back to those verses. He set them before me as a feast, and my cup overflows (Ps. 23:5).

This teaching on immersion in God’s word is just what we need. Even the psalmist knew this and wrote the lengthy Psalm 119 exploring how God’s words teach us, and how they should be applied. These examples come from a heart wanting to live the way Jesus said we must live, in order to be fruitful:

³³ Teach me, LORD, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. ³⁴ Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. ³⁵ Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.  (Ps. 119:33-35 NIV)

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Ps. 119:11 NIV)

Yes, that last one has coached me since my parents had me memorize it when I was just a child. When God’s words are planted deeply in our hearts, the Spirit brings them to mind when we face a temptation to stray off the path of God’s commands. Our part is to participate in this mutual effort. We drink in the words, keep them embedded in our inner being, and respond gladly to their teaching—especially when the Spirit underlines them for us.

This is the growth process that the trees and bushes, weary of winter, are demonstrating as they drink in the rain water and the warmth from the heavens. May we bloom enthusiastically too!