2. All About Fruitfulness
Life is all about fruitfulness. Wealth responds to fruitfulness. It is absurd to think that you can handle great wealth if you have not mastered the art of fruitfulness.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number[…]
Genesis 1:28
The first instruction God gave man was that of fruitfulness. In the parable of talents, there was an unspoken expectation of fruitfulness. Therefore, as a servant of God, there is an expectation of fruitfulness in the assignment He has given you.
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
John 15:1-2
Compare these words of Jesus with the words of the Master in the parable:
Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man[…]So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you[…] His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant![…] Take the talent from him and give the one who has the ten talents[…] And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 25:24-30
Notice any similarities in the above two mirrors?
God is consistent in how He deals with fruitfulness and the lack of it. Jesus, being the gracious Lord that He is, tells us how we are to achieve fruitfulness.
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
John 15:3-8
Jesus simply says that fruitfulness is only achieved by remaining in Him and He in you. Verse 7 tells us how to achieve this:
If you remain in me and my words remain in you
You remain in Jesus by remaining in the Word. Why?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1
How do you remain in the Word?
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Joshua 1:8
“I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go,
1 Kings 2:2-3
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgeting what he has heard, but doing it-he will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:22-25
You remain in the Word by doing what the Word says.
Your Turn
Are you walking in obedience to the Word? If you are, the Lord considers you fruitful, and in time you will multiply.
If you are not, will you start walking in obedience to the Word?