A Plant that does not Grow cannot bear Fruit

Any plant that does not grow cannot bear fruit. A growing plant needs to be exposed to sunlight. Its root system needs to be properly developed and anchored. 

Water is essential for its growth and an adequate supply of nutrients must be applied if your growing plant is to bear healthy, rich, sweet fruit.

In many passages of Scripture we are compared to plants and trees, and like plants and trees we, as Christians, are expected to grow and bear good fruit [see Matthew 3:10; Matthew 7:17-20]. But how are we to bear the good fruit that God calls us to bear?

In the Gospel of John Jesus said,

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” John 15:4

“Abide”, in the original Greek, is “Meno”, which means remain, persist, continue – to continue along the course of.

Also in Job 24:13, it is written, “There are those who rebel against the light; They do not know its ways nor abide in its paths.”

These two passages of Scripture clearly tell us what we are to do if we are to grow and bear good fruit:

• remain in Christ and He in us by our complete submission to His leading and guidance, moment upon moment, day by day, and
  
• stay in that path or continue walking along that course. 

How do we “meno”? 

As the plant needs sunlight to grow, we need to be exposed to the light of the Son (see Isaiah 2:5; John 8:12, 9:5); 

As the plant needs to be fed, so too we must feed on the Word of God by studying and meditating upon it day and night (see Joshua 1:8; 1 Timothy 4:13-15); 

As the plant needs to be watered, so too we need the continuous hydration of the Holy Spirit (see Isaiah 44:3; John 7:37-39; Ephesians 3:19, 5:18); 

As the plant needs to be nurtured, so too we are to nurture our souls through prayer (see Romans 12:12; Ephesians 6:18; Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:17) – our conversations with God.

We are to remain aware of the presence of Christ’s Holy Spirit in us, meditate upon the Word of God and allow His Spirit to operate in, from, by, and through us, for it is through the work of Spirit in us that grows our characters, and our knowledge of God. It is the Holy Spirit Who bears the fruit in us (Galatians 5:22-25). 

Amen †

A Plant that does not Grow cannot bear Fruit ©2013 Shelley Johnson