Fruit Bearing Branches

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so 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, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. (John 15:1-8)

The concept of "bearing fruit" jumps out at me from this passage. What is this fruit that seems so important to Jesus as He speaks to His disciples? Is He looking for grapes or does He long to see glory? It seems to me that bearing fruit depends upon a connectedness...the branch must be connected to the vine...and not just any vine. The True Vine. And the result of being connected and bearing much fruit is the realization of the glory of God. So if I follow the logic of the Logos, the Word of God, I can make this connection. When I follow Jesus, I must be connected to His Life. It is the only way I will "bear fruit" that brings glory to God. So what is this fruit?
As we begin this year, learning more about bearing fruit as a disciple of Christ is a driving desire of my life. So the blog title has been changed to reflect what is left over from this fruit-harvesting adventure. Things we learn in the process. Leftover Fruit will help us to understand how prevalent this principle is throughout the Bible and in salvation history. Bearing fruit is a call from God to man from a long time ago. It is still relevant. Hopefully we will discover that bearing fruit is not only a theological exercise where we think theoretical thoughts, but bearing fruit is a practical exercise in practicing our Christianity. Bearing fruit is more than just studying our Bibles. It involves "doing the Word." The Lord desires that we are to be growing as a branch as we are used by Him in the reproduction of Life-bearing fruit in a world that is perishing and withering away. Making disciples...bearing fruit...growing in God's Word...The Word growing in us.
When Jesus spoke these words about a True Vine, many people who heard him were very familiar with God's word. They would have recognized the parable of the "choice vine" that was spoken of in Isaiah 5. This was always God's plan for Israel...to be chosen to bear good fruit and be a blessing to the nations. But Israel had stopped bearing good fruit long before Isaiah's day. The nation of Israel had so long thought themselves to be "chosen" that they depended upon their religious tradition to validate their experience with God or justify the lack of it. They practiced the practice without experiencing the Life of God in their daily lives. So hundreds of years later, after much trial and trouble for the people of God, Jesus came to proclaim that He, not man's manageable institutional religious system, was the "choice" or "true" vine. And the only way that the people of God would ever bear godly fruit was to be connected to Him. Disciples of that day heard the message. Disciples of this day need to hear it. Join me this year as we become fruit-bearing branches of the True Vine.