One of our favorite pastimes on Saturday mornings is to visit our local farmers market. What a delight for our eyes to take in the crisp greens, brightly colored fruits and vegetables, and even beautiful cuttings of fresh flowers. The joy continues when we bring our bounty home, arranging the flowers in vases, chopping up the fresh vegetables and fruits, and combining their amazing flavors into favorite recipes or just enjoying them one delicious bite at a time. We partake of the fruit of the farmers’ labor, and the yield of the soil, and the result is joyful taste buds and satisfied stomachs.
For children of God, the earth’s soil isn’t the only place we find yields of fruit. Jesus tells us in the Gospel of John that we not only can enjoy fruit, we can bloom with it ourselves!
“Abide in me, and I in you, unless you abide in me and I in you. As a branch you cannot bear fruit by itself unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is the bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” — John 15: 4-5 ESV
So what is the key to flourishing with God and bearing fruit? The key is found in that bolded, five-letter word: Abide. Once God plants his gospel in our hearts, (the moment we accept the gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ) He firmly plants us in himself.
And just like an apple can’t form apart from its branch, nor the branch apart from its tree, you and I can’t bear fruit unless we remain in him. In other words, unless we are united with Christ. We were created for union with God. God not only fills our every need, but He also empowers us to bloom. And when we are tapped into the vine of God, those blooms can shine brighter and bigger than we could ever think or imagine, not as a means of saying, “Look at me!” but as pointers toward the glory of God!
Think for a moment about a woman in your life who truly blooms with the beauty of Christ. Have you ever studied her demeanor? Ever noticed her pace? She doesn’t scurry around in a flurry of God-pleasing performance. She doesn’t get flustered or easily agitated. She exudes peace and joy. You might even notice love, patience, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That’s the fruit of God’s Spirit, as Paul talks about in Galatians 5:22-23. And why does she bloom with this fruit? Because she knows her Maker. She knows His attributes, His love, and His saving grace. Her confidence doesn’t come from doing more and more for Christ but by the fact that she is rooted and abiding in Christ and she knows that He can be trusted. The late Dallas Willard said, “Keep God before your mind.” Our part is to direct and redirect our mind to him. Abiding in His truth not only will change our outlook, but also will invite others to let God transform their perspectives, too.
Join us tomorrow as we delve a little deeper into abiding and blooming, not just individually, but as part of God’s glorious garden!
— The Sublime Soiree © August 2024
