“The Fruit of Faithfulness”

     The more we discover and embrace the Biblical truth that our faithfulness is fruit, the more we will focus the eyes of our heart on the Vine that infuses us with His life.

     “I am the Vine, ye are the branches” (John 15:5).

     Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ do not become more devoted by determining to become more devoted.  We rather determine to “behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord,” leading to our being “changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (II Corinthians 3:18). The tributary of our faithfulness flows from the River of Christ, which itself proceeds from the Ocean of His Father and our Father.  “I live by the Father… “God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (I John 4:9). The Holy Spirit reveals in us the faithfulness of the Son to the Father as we lay aside deluded human efforts in order to apprehend the power of dynamic Divine effort. “God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6).

     No believer travels far down the path of righteousness before discovering that we can no more independently walk in its daunting way than we could have embarked upon the path to begin with.  “As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him” (Colossians 2:6). Whatever happened in those first twinkling moments of being birthed into the Light of God must continue to happen in this life and forevermore.  We must “look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).  We must “have no confidence in the flesh,” and we must “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:3; II Peter3:18). 

     After mixing more metaphors than one essay should tolerate, we return to our original illustration. Faithfulness is fruit.  Christ is the Root, the Vine, and the beloved Subject of His Father’s devoted care.  We are the branches upon which the fruit of the Holy Spirit buds, blossoms and bears as we remember and affirm the corollary Biblical truths that “without Me ye can do nothing,” and “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (John 15:5; Philippians4:13).

“The fruit of the Spirit is faith.”(Galatians 5:22)“The remnant… shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.”(Isaiah 37:31