This post is part of a 40-Day Prayer Journey through the season of Lent. Click here to learn more and read other posts in the series
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
With this simple illustration in the verse above, Jesus makes a very powerful promise.
If we remain in Jesus, we’ll bear much fruit in our lives of faith. Apart from him, we can’t bear fruit; we can’t do anything. We’re spiritually dead like a branch no longer connected to the vine, which once gave it nutrients and life.
“If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”
The branches of healthy fruit trees bear healthy fruit. That’s what they do. That’s what comes from being connected to the main body of the tree itself, which is rooted deep in the earth and draws nutrients from the soil, sun, and water.
Likewise, as we remain in Jesus, we’re connected to him through God’s means of grace in his Word and sacraments. We’re strengthened and nourished in our lives of faith and are motivated and empowered to live as branches of the vine—bearing much fruit in thanksgiving to him. That’s what we do as God’s children.
As Pastor Stephen Helwig wrote in his devotional on John’s gospel, These Words Are Written,
We have opportunities to bear much fruit, beautiful and delicious fruit, that not only reveal that we are Jesus’ disciples but also bring glory to God. Each fruit that our faith produces is a personalized thank-you card to the God who loves, forgives, and saves us. The owner of an orchard does not need to walk up and down the rows of apple trees each morning and order the trees to produce apples. Those trees just naturally produce apples. The healthier the trees, the better the apples. May our fruits of faith be just as natural and just as healthy—produced not out of fear of hell but rather out of thanksgiving for heaven. (pp. 187-188)
Dear Christian, our sins are already forgiven. Our God already loves us. Our home in heaven is secure. All because of Jesus. And now the things we think, say, and do—our very lives themselves—are how we can say thank you to the God who has done all things for us.
The God-pleasing fruit we bear in our lives of faith is how we can indirectly point others to the God who has done all things for them.
Jesus’ promise stands. “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”
Let’s encourage one another to remain in the vine through the means of grace and through worship and faithful study of God’s Word, to grow in faith and understanding of our Savior-God, and to bear much fruit in thanksgiving to him with our lives of faith.
Today as you pray, ask that God would strengthen and encourage his people through his means of grace to remain in him and motivate and empower Christians everywhere to bear good fruit today and always to witness to others and bring glory to God’s name.
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Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.
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