A Fruitful LifeНамуна

HAVE A FRUITFUL LIFE

INTRODUCTION

God wants our lives to bear fruit according to His calling for every believer, which is a fruitful life. As the vine, God gives us guidance to be fruitful. To be a Christian only is not enough to accomplish the task of God, but the Lord teaches us to finish the race of faith in this world well as Jesus did, to bear fruit and leave the legacy of faith for the next generation. How to make our life bear fruit that can be enjoyed by others? Here, Jesus gave a simple way but this message is very effective in our lives today.

SHARING

The following are the steps we need to pay attention to in order to have a fruitful life:

1. Allow God to cleanse our lives (John 15: 1-2)

It cannot be denied, that God's first step in shaping us is by pruning our unfruitful branches. this is God’s part; all we need to do is only “surrendering” so that God's hand will cut what is still not right in our lives. What is God's tool to cleanse us? The answer is His Words (verse 3). But it would not stop there, surely we will be cleansed by the power of His Words, but to keep our hearts clean, we need to abide in Him (to be discussed at the next point). Pruning is the removal of some parts of the plant. This is usually related to the cutting of bad, unproductive, or undesirable parts of the plant in order to increase the quantity and quality of its flowers or fruit. Remember that the Words of God have the power to clean up the part - which maybe still lives in our hearts - that is not pleasing God. God’s Words will cut off all our bad characters which are still being held even after we become believers. As it is written in 2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." Never doubt the power of His word, even with a single word in The Bible, if we respond to it appropriately it can change our way of life, point of view, and lifestyle in a real way. So to be fruitful, the first step is to learn responding the Word of God appropriately with total obedience.

2. Make the Lord Jesus as our source of life (John 15: 4-6)

The special thing of Christianity is, as human beings we can have a close relationship with Him, the Creator. This is different from any other religious concept. He is not only God who likes to be worshiped without being known personally. Yet He is the God who yearns for us to knowing Him deeper day by day. What Lord Jesus said to the disciples was that every believer should remain in the knowledge of Christ deeper day by day. The phrase "Abide in me and I in you ..." is actually God's invitation for us to know Him better. Because this is the only way we can bear fruit. Pursue the true recognition of who Jesus is, recognize His heart, recognize His desire, so we can produce a fruitful life. When we understand and get the hearts of our Lord, we can feel God's desire in our heart that makes us willing to entrust His desire whatever the price is. When Lord Jesus has mercy to the lost who need salvation, such compassion will grow in our lives as well. This is what should drive the lives of believers, our will is in line with God's. So to bear fruit, make God as the ultimate source of our lives.

3. Make "love one another" as a lifestyle (John 15:17)

One simple but important message when the Lord Jesus taught about a fruitful life is: "Love one another." Even the Lord Jesus uttered this sentence as a command. What is the reason? Because it is not easy to love. You know, when we talk about love it means we are talking about the willingness to SACRIFICE. God is the master in talking about love. God always proves His love by sacrifice. One of the most popular verses is John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." The love of God has been proven by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross to save all humans. A fruitful life is the result of loving actions. We cannot bear fruit without doing anything. To be fruitful it takes effort, that is loving. Ask the Lord Jesus as the source of that love to enable us to have unlimited and unconditional love. Whoever God places in the circle of our lives, they deserve to feel the overflowing love from our lives. Therefore, it is necessary for us as disciples of Christ first to be filled with the pure love of God and then flow that love from our lives like the stream of river water satisfying the thirst and drought in the lives of others. Love must be like the stream of water that gives life to those who are dry and drought.

CONCLUSION

Being fruitful and being a blessing is God's purpose in designing our lives. We are not created just for life and go through it meaninglessly. But our life should be a precious treasure where others can discover the legacy of faith. Our lives should also be like a good tree, which continuously produces fresh fruit that people can enjoy. That's why God teaches us to capture His heart. Our present lives are not for personal enjoyment, but to please God, and to bear fruit in our lives is the most pleasant thing for Him.