Read: John 15:1-11
Reflect:
You can’t fit a square peg into a round hole.
Some of you might say you can. Don’t be that guy.
Some things in life just simply won’t work without the correct things being placed together.
John talks about this in John 15:1-11. A branch cannot be cut off of a tree (or vine) and still continue to bear fruit. It simply isn’t possible.
Your life is the same. If Jesus is your Savior then he is the vine.
It is impossible for your life to bear the fruit of God as it was designed to do if your life is spent separated from Jesus.
We tend to be people who like shortcuts. It’s the world we live in. Microwaves, fast cars, the Internet in our hand, and immediate contact to people all over the world can be done with the simple press of a button.
You can’t short cut the fruit of God. You can’t bear immediate fruit.
Bearing good fruit takes time. It takes meticulous effort.
I will say that again.
Bearing fruit takes TIME. It takes METICULOUS EFFORT.
You cannot have an amazing relationship with Jesus and have your life bear fulfillment without spending the time NECESSARY to produce good things.
What type of effort is required?
A gardener has to tend to his garden EVERY DAY.
He must water and feed the plants. He must check the soil. He must look over every part of the plant to make sure there is nothing trying to contaminate or destroy it. He must prune (cut off or cut out) the dangerous things growing on the plant.
You must take the approach of the gardener in your life.
There is no quick fix. There is no easy way around it.
Being a gardener takes time and you are the gardener of your life.
Where do you start?
- Inspect the plant (your life).
- Once you have found the dangerous things… CUT THEM OFF.
- Water and feed yourself everyday (read the Bible and Pray).
- Repeat the process daily.
Are you trying to live life apart from the vine?
Apply:
- Inspect your life. What areas are dangerous and are have the potential to destroy you?
- (It could be dehydration – no time spent watering/feeding your life with God, you might be choked out by terrible weeds of sin, you might have dead branches – past guilt, anger, a grudge that need to be removed in order to grow further).
- Write these down now.
- Begin to cut off the dangerous things. Stop an addiction. Get a new set of friends. Accept forgiveness. Move forward.
- Water and feed yourself EVERYDAY on the living Word of God. Pray to the living Savior.
- Write down steps you can take today that will develop a pattern tomorrow.
Pray: God knows all the things in your life. He can see the dead branches. He knows if you are trying to live apart from him. He already knows where you need help. Be honest and tell him these things. Confession brings freedom. Confess. Now ask God for the strength to develop a DAILY routine of the process listed above.
cfbc students 