Reading that you can easily say; “Dhuh, everyone knows that!” but there is more to that statement than meets the eye. As Christians we can live very dysfunctional lives. The Bible calls us to be fruitful in our relationship with Jesus, in our union and communion with our Lord and Savior. The temptation is there to focus on fruitfulness rather than Jesus. In John 15 Jesus deals with this issue by explaining it in a parable. The parable talks of the True Vine, the branches and the Gardener.
John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
According to Jesus the branches cannot produce fruit without the vine. That means that fruitfulness without Jesus is not unlikely but rather impossible. Many saints are frantically filling their days with works and service, somehow hoping that this would appease the wrath of God. Churches are filled with activity and service, the kingdom must be advanced, the gospel must be preached and disciples made of every tribe, nation and tongue. The question that I want to ask is: “Does all this busyness produce the fruit that glorifies the Father?”
I am reminded of the account of Martha and Mary, two sisters that invited Jesus to come and stay in their house. Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to His words, Martha on the other hand serving everyone. At the end of the account, Martha took issue with Jesus asking Him if He does not care about the fact that she is doing all of the serving on her own. His answer was legendary:
Luke 10:41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Don’t get me wrong I believe in serving, the Bible has clear instructions on serving one another, we should willingly lay down our own lives for the King. But Jesus is highlighting something far more important, He wants us to sit at His feet and listen to His words. They are words of life, words of power, words of affirmation and comfort, words of peace and restitution. What can be more important today than to hear the Lord speak? So we should learn from Mary’s action and Martha’s distraction. Distraction will try and draw us away from the feet of Jesus, distraction will accuse us of laziness and every other “good” thing, but the words of Jesus will not be taken away from those that wait on Him, wait on Him to listen to Him.
The word “abide” means: to place, to tarry, not to leave, not to depart, to continue in the presence. Jesus calls His won to abide in Him, not abide with Him but in Him. We can easily look “fruitful” like plastic fruit looks real on the outside but when you bite into a plastic apple you can only be filled with a mouthful of disappointment. Real fruit is juicy and succulent; you can sink your teeth into it and taste the sweet juices of the fruit. Michael Eaton says that if you aim at holiness you become weird but if you aim at Jesus you become holy accidentally. Wow! Some of us want to hang with Jesus for a moment like a cheap one night stand but the call from heaven for us to abide in Him is much more romantic. He wants us to be with Him, to get to know Him, to cling to Him, to stick fast to Him, to get nearer and nearer to Him, to live a life of close and intimate union with Him. Then one day we realize that we are pregnant with His plans and purposes, with His Word and presence and at the end of a full term we give birth. Make time for Him, the Psalmist says that he waits for God alone in silence, that his expectation is from Him only (Ps 62).
Don’t settle for the noise and distractions that are on offer, seek Him out in silence, allowing His words to flood your soul. Then go and serve with great efficiency and affection. From the sweet place of INTIMACY we will produce BABIES.