FRUITFUL CHRISTIAN LIFE (John 14:15-21; John 15:1-5)
~ Rev B. Chinkhengoupau
Introduction
In his book ‘The Great House of God’, Max Lucado explains about the Lord’s Prayer in a very picturesque perspective that when we say ‘Our Father’, we address a Father which implies that we admit ourselves as the children of God and we must think and imagine as if we enter into the house of the Lord, His dwelling place. We are Christians who have a Father, therefore we must ask ourselves whether we dwell in the house of the Lord our Father.
Love: The Missing Link
Christianity is considered an accessory, once obtained cannot be lost again. Having said that, many of us still live according to the flesh. Therefore there is no happiness, no peace and no harmony in our lives because we do not love Jesus Christ. We want to live life of villains but at the same time want the dignity of heroes like in movies. We all want to go to heaven but we do not want to take the necessary measures to get to heaven. We do not love Christ which is the missing link. Jesus says that anyone who has His commands and keeps them is the one who loves Him (John 14:21). So to love Jesus, we must keep and obey His commands.
True Vine True Branches True Fruit
The Lord wants us to be always attached to Him in our everyday life (John 15:1-5). He is the vine, we are the branches. He is the one who supplies all the nutrients and the one who makes us bear fruit. If we are not attached to the Vine, we cannot bear fruit. Even if we do bear fruit, it will definitely not be of Him, the True Vine.
Conclusion
Can we answer to the Lord like Simon Peter did by saying, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You!”? (John 21:15). There is fruitfulness in loving Christ because those who love Him are the ones who follow His commands; and those who obey His commands are those branches that grow from the Vine (Jesus); and if we are those branches we will yield fruit (Galatians 5:22-23) in season.
