Bearing Fruit For God!
"By this My Father is glorified, that you bear
much fruit; so you will be My disciples."
John 15: 8
In a modern vineyard, there are three elements:
the grapes, the vines, and the vintner—
the winemaker.
When a wine wins an award, it is not the grape
that's honored, nor is the vine dug up and rewarded.
Rather, it's the vintner, the winemaker, who
is praised
for the quality of the wine.
Jesus drew a similar parallel in John 15 in His teaching on bearing
fruit. He said His followers are branches that bear the fruit; He is the
vine and the Father is the vinedresser or
vintner (verse 1). His point
is that when we as believers stay connected to the true Vine, Jesus,
we will bear much fruit—or at least that is the plan.
We stay connected by abiding in Jesus and allowing His
words to abide in us (verse 7). The result is that the Father
will be glorified when we abide in Jesus and bear much fruit.
The glory is not ours; the glory is the Father’s (verse 8).
It's God’s will for us to bear much fruit in His
Name—that is how we glorify the Father.
"In short, good works are
the fruit of saving faith."
R. B. Kuiper