good news is that after a few years
of living here we did find one shop
that sold some of the ingredients
to make some of the dishes I really
enjoyed. As you would expect I was
so excited I bought up stacks of the
stuff to ensure I never run out of it
again.
This included some crackers
that were baked back home and
shipped to this country as well as a
special type of hot drink that I really
enjoyed. After making a cup of this
hot drink we would then butter the
crackers and dip them into the tea.
In some places they refer to this as
dunking your biscuit. After enjoying
the pleasures of this experience
for a number of days I began to
realise that I would get boil-like
bumps coming up in some of the
most unusual places, like down in
my ears. This was a new experience
and I was quite concerned as to
what was causing it. I could not
remember ever having bumps like
these before. I thought about the
cause of this for a few days but
soon concluded that it must be
as a result of my biscuit dunking
indulgence. Even I had to admit
that I was simply overdoing it.
Jesus spoke in John 15 about us
as branches bearing fruit only if we
remain in the vine and for years I
tried desperately to bear fruit for
God. My efforts however, only
bore frustration. It was not until I
had these bumps that I suddenly
realised and understood how
branches bear fruits. A branch
doesn’t have to work itself up to
manufacture a fruit. No, fruits pop
out effortlessly from the branch.
Why? You see, like my bumps, fruit
is just the outward manifestation of
an inward reality. My body had too
much of something and needed
to get rid of it so it pushed it out,
resulting in bumps forming on
the outside of my skin. This was a
natural occurrence, a function of
to God. Read Matthew 13:24-30
Our fruitfulness is not to be taken
lightly. The consequences for not
bearing good fruit are eternal.
Trees that bear no fruit or bear bad
fruit will be thrown into the fire of
hell. These are Jesus’ own words, “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. If anyone does
not abide in Me, he is cast out as
a branch and is withered; and they
gather them and throw them into
the fire, and they are burned.” John
15:5-6
the body.
A branch is so filled with sap from
the vine that the overflow causes
fruit to pop out. These fruits when
they are mature and ripened are
filled with tasty juice that is created
by the inflow of sap from the vine.
This example from nature teaches
us a profound lesson. As a believer,
my job is to remain firmly connected
to the vine while allowing the free
flow of its sap to work God’s will
and way through me. It all happens
naturally.
The more of God I have the more
of the good fruit I will produce. The
reverse is also true. My fruit is a
reflection of the sap that feeds me.
God’s sap bears good fruit while
the devil’s sap bears bad fruit. No
wonder, John the Baptist made
this statement, “And even now the
axe is laid to the root of the trees.
Therefore every tree which does
not bear good fruit is cut down and
thrown into the fire.” John 3:10
God is going to cut down all the
devil’s trees and throw them into
the fire. Note also, that the devil
has trees planted among God’s
trees in God’s garden. Read about
this in The Parable Of The Wheat
And The Tares and see what will
happen to trees that do not belong
The metaphor of the sap that
produces good fruit is used to
represent the Holy Spirit. Read
Galatians 5:22 to understand the
characteristics of the fruit that the
Holy Spirit produces. Fruits, are
also the reproductive tool of a tree;
so our fruitfulness also quantifies
the amount of people Jesus is able
to reproduce Himself in due to our
influence.
In the Mark 11 account, Jesus chose
to demonstrate the consequences
of fruitlessness; as if the many
other times He spoke about it was
not sufficient. He was hungry and
having gone to a fig tree hoping
to find fruit He discovered that
there was none. He reacted to
its fruitlessness by cursing it. The
following day when they passed by
again that way His disciples realised
that the tree was drying up from the
very roots.
What should we learn from all this?
Every tree or branch that bears bad
fruit or is fruitless will be cursed by
God resulting in their death and
subsequent burning. Therefore,
abide in the vine and allow Jesus
to glorify Himself through your life,
making you spiritually reproductive
for His Kingdom. p
July - September 2017
SHARE | MAGAZINE
|
29