Who Produces Much Fruit?

March 11, 2024

Monday

I heard the following story:

A dad and his son are on a road trip through Amish country. Upon seeing all the horse and buggies the son asks his dad why the Amish travel that way.

The dad replies, "Son, they don't believe in cars."

"But, dad," the boy exclaims,  "Can't they see them?!"

Now, I would like to relate that to the experience of abiding in Jesus. Anyone who has experienced the power of the Lord working in their lives must know that it comes by Jesus abiding in them and they in Jesus. What appears to be accomplished through natural talents will amount to nothing. What is done in the Lord is everything. Those who have natural intellectual or charismatic talents may see the works of the Lord all around them but they do not adopt abiding in Jesus because they do not truly know Him. They have a belief that they more than doubt because they assume the apparent results in numbers justifies their own relationship. They may see the works of the Lord but they choose not to adopt abiding in Jesus as the means to accomplish His will because they do not need to. They are doing more with their natural abilities than what appears to be happening with those who abide in the Lord.

This may explain much of the so-called de-conversion stories I have read from celebrity pastors. Each of them is much smarter than me. Each of them is able to do things that I would love to do. Yet, their own superior natural abilities have become a hindrance because they cannot claim that what they have done is a work of the Lord. They know it is because of their own abilities. Thus, claims of the Lord working are foreign to them. They can de-convert because they have not seen the Lord truly work in their lives. If they did, they would never turn their backs on the Lord.

On the other hand, we may not know the full impact that abiding in Jesus will have. The person we lead to the Lord, the discipleship group that we lead or the moment we are moved by the Lord to fund a Christian project may have results that we can't imagine. We know that the Lord has promised us much fruit if we will abide in Him. We may not see the results of what the Lord will do through us. However, we will know that it is the Lord working in us.

So, you and I may never have our names in lights. Thousands of people may never hear us speak or buy our books. But there is something much more precious than these things. We know the Lord is working in us. We know that He has promised to produce much fruit through this. For me, this is enough.

John 15:5 (NASB 2020) ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.