Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Promise: You will bear much fruit!

John 15v5 “If a person remains in me and I in them, they will bear much fruit.”

We all want to leave some positive mark on this world. When we find some work brings no fruit, we get frustrated. Jesus speaks of our fruitfulness three times in this passage where he uses an illustration of a vine.

• “If a person remains in me and I in them, they will bear much fruit.” v5
• “This is to my Father’s glory that you bear much fruit…” v8
• “I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.” v16

God has a real desire for you to be fruitful in life. God’s very first words spoken to human beings in Genesis 1 are “Be fruitful”. In the last chapter of the Bible it tells of an abundance of fruit in the new creation as the tree “yields its fruit every month”.

Don’t let your mind think God is stingy or wanting to put you down. He is wanting to lift you up and enable you to be fruitful. Of course, my idea of fruit may not always be the same as God’s! We need our hearts aligned with his heart, so that we seek what He seeks. This is why Jesus says, ““I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.” (John 5v19)

Jesus makes this “You will bear much fruit” promise conditional: “If a person remains in me and I in them …”. A branch cannot produce fruit separated from the vine. And so the most vital thing for me as a believer is to “remain in Christ”: that is to keep close to him in prayer, worship, and fellowship with others. It is vital we are listening to Him and ready to do what He says.

May God enable you to remain in Him and produce much good fruit in your life.

With love and blessing,

Roland