Fruitfulness means different things to different people. The disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ left all to follow Him, whereas the rich young ruler in Matthew 19: 21-22 thought otherwise. Fruitfulness in God’s kingdom has to do with stewardship as told by Jesus Christ in Matthew 25:14-30 in the parable of the talent and in Matthew 6:33. It is all about fulfilling the purpose of God for your purpose.
God wants you to be fruitful and He has made provision for your fruitfulness right from the beginning of creation. Then God bless them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” Genesis 1:28 One of the things that determines your fruitfulness is your relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ as stated in John 15:4-5 and Psalm 92:12-14; you must abide in Him. The founder of Salvation Army, General William Booth was asked the secret of his success. He replied, “Years ago I decided to give God all of me, and that’s no secret. Anybody can do it, if they will pay the price. What’s the price here? ALL OF YOU!
‘Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing’ John 15:4-5
Also, your act of obedience matters a lot. God may not bless you beyond your level of obedience as vividly stated in Deuteronomy 28:1-2 and Isaiah 1:19-20. It takes good character to handle success, hence God wants you to grow to maturity so that when he empowers you spiritually, financially, materially and physically you will be able to handle it and not abuse the purpose for the blessing.
Dearly Beloved, I want you to know that fruitlessness is not God’s will for you; it is even dangerous for believers. A child of God is a ‘lively tree’ because according to 1Corinthians 3:9 (NKJV), we are God’s field. In other words, God is our husbandman who is nurturing us for fruitfulness. God therefore expects returns on His investment in us as manifested in the fruits we bear. Jesus told a parable about an unproductive, but well nurtured fig tree in Luke 13:6-7. The farmer in this parable had been expecting pleasant fruits based on his efforts; unfortunately, he got nothing and his reaction was to cut off the unfruitful tree.
‘Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground? Luke 13:7
The good news is that when you abide in Jesus Christ, you will surely bear fruits. And when you are bearing fruits, the Lord will work on you to bear much more fruits. John 15:2.
‘Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit’. John 15:2
However, fruitfulness doesn’t just come, it is your choice and you have to be intentional about it. You must choose whether you are going to live a prosperous life or a mediocre one, it’s a decision you must make by yourself. There are decisions that you must take now so that you may flourish. For example you must make up your mind either;
To pay off your debt or keep on mounting up debt till you can’t pay them anymore,
To eat healthy or keep feeding your body with junk food,
To obey God and pay your tithe and offering or continue to live in disobedience and spend all the money God gave you on yourself,
To put God first or let Him have the leftovers,
To give God time or give all time to yourself,
These amongst others are all choices that you must make consciously now, they don’t come on their own. Please remember that every choice that you make today will impact your life tomorrow. The choices you made in the past have made you the person that you are today. If you want to turn your life around and be fruitful, then you must begin to abide in Christ, obey His words and make godly choices.
I pray that the Lord will give you the grace to make the right choice and be fruitful in Jesus name.
Happy new month.
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