Biblical Success - Running Our Race - Our Ultimate TestSample

What is the “fruit” that Jesus will look for? What do you think will be the basis that Jesus will use for considering our works either “good” or “worthless?” Think about it. What is Jesus looking for us to do individually and/or as parts of His Church? What are the works that “God created for us to walk in?” I don’t know specifically or individually, but I think it is safe to say that generally, they will mirror what Jesus did when he walked the earth as a man, what He said to those He left behind, and what they did. He told them things like, “Go into ALL the world and preach the gospel.”

The Greek word translated as “go” in most translations implies “go and keep on going.”Or, “as you are going.” It is a continuous imperative similar to the word “be” in the verse that says, “Be filled with the Spirit,” which can be understood as “be being filled.” The sense is not that we do something just once and are done with it but that it is more of a practice that we continue and keep on doing.

The works themselves, again mirroring Jesus and His disciples and apostles, could be divided into three basic groups, each with more or less individual application depending on God’s plan and the believer’s context of gifting, etc. We allow Jesus to keep on building the Kingdom of God through us by participating in things like.....

First, they might concern the salvation of the lost. We know that God cares deeply about that—so much so that He sent His Son to die for it. Jesus didn’t have to die to heal and cast out demons or to raise the dead. He did all that before he died and rose.

God allowed Him to suffer and die for the specific purpose of creating the way of our salvation. We can share it or help with it today. The world has never needed it more. How might that happen?

Second, they might involve helping other Christians grow and mature in their faith by teaching, encouraging, and discipling them. Growing in intimacy with God in Jesus and His Word with His Spirit is the well-worn path used by those who have run their races well in our heritage of Christian heroes and heroines.

Third, they could be focused on giving and helping those less fortunate, as in Matthew 25:31-46. Generously giving, feeding, and clothing them and serving them in the name of our Lord.

These actions and their effects could be called “eternal fruit.” A tree or a Christ-follower is known by its fruit. Fruit is the result of “good works.” The fruit of the Spirit produces eternal fruit, which can be defined as “Lives turned toward God, encouraged towards His Kingdom.” If how we live, what we do and say, and how we do is led by God’s Spirit in obedience to God’s plan, eternal fruit will be produced.

Jesus’s life produced tons of eternal fruit, his disciples' lives produced bountiful eternal fruit, and we are created to do the same. So, what is God stirring in your heart today? Let’s read from His Word and then share our thoughts.