Do You Want to See Results in Your Life?
Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:4-5 (NRSV)
Have you ever managed to complete a cycle of laundry and actually get it folded in the same day? Or put some extra effort in to prepare a wonderful home-cooked meal for your family that turned out amazing? Or managed to check off your entire To Do list? Or completed all your errands despite a cranky toddler and a fussy baby?
Although the process is not always pleasant, it feels good when we are productive, when we accomplish what we set out to do.
There’s a certain pleasure associated with productivity, isn’t there?
As moms, the simplest tasks that we never even considered putting on our task list prior to children now take exorbitant amounts of time that necessitates a position on our daily list. Simply writing it down is an expression of hope that somehow, in the craziness of daily life, we might, possibly, be able to work towards the end goal of achieving at least one of those tasks on any given day.
Are we being productive in our walk with Christ?
Are we checking off that list of growth indicators we all have? I don’t mean to reduce our relationship with Jesus to a checklist, but rather to examine whether we are taking steps toward growth.
I’d be the first to admit that it has been a LOOOOONG time that I’ve had “regular devotional time” on my “to do list” for spiritual growth. And when I get NO time with God, I definitely feel the stress closing in!
These two verses give us the secret to productivity in our Christian lives…ABIDE IN HIM.
- We cannot bear fruit without Him.
- We cannot grow.
- We cannot be a light for others.
- We cannot become more gentle, loving, patient, kind, peaceful, joyful, good, faithful, or self-controlled without abiding in Jesus.
What sort of woman, Mom, wife, sister, daughter, friend do you want to be in 10 years from now?
I know my picture includes many of those character traits I mentioned above and a lot fewer of the weaknesses I see now.
Jesus loves us no matter where we are at. But He knows exactly who He has created us to become and it’s exciting that our Creator Himself wants to be in on the process!
In fact, He’s designed it so we don’t get very far without Him!
The vine and the branches are working toward the same end…fruit.
Connect with the Vine today and invite Him to produce fruit in you and through you. Acknowledge your need of Him and perhaps even write out the whispered dreams He lays on your heart of how you might grow over the coming years and the fruit He’d love to nourish in your life.
