Faith: The Vine and the Branches 4 (John 15:1-8)
God’s Glory, Our Fruit v8
Jesus concludes this Vine and Branches teaching saying three things: Our purpose as a creation is God’s Glory. We fulfill that purpose when we live our lives as true disciples of Jesus. The proof of our discipleship lies in our ability to reproduce.
All of that sounds like a huge pressure. It could make us think that we need to work really hard to make God happy. But the truth could not be more different. We do not earn God’s love or our salvation. We cannot hope to make other people believe, that is also God’s work. However, He delights in bringing glory to Himself through us. All He wants from us is surrender. If we will be faithful to trust Him and obey the things we hear from Him, He will be faithful to glorify Himslef in us.
A good friend of mine told me about a woman he was working with in Hamburg Germany. They had been talking about this demand that Jesus makes of His disciples, to be His witnesses in their daily lives. One Sunday, she was waiting in the rain at a bus stop for her ride to Church. As she stood there, she had a strong impression that she was supposed to tell another woman at the stop about Jesus. But she didn’t want to. It was raining. She was tired. And surely, she was only having that thought because she had recently learned about her need to share. It wasn’t really the Holy Spirit telling her to speak to that women. But, as she waited for the bus, the prodding wouldn’t stop.
Finally, as the bus pulled up and they were climbing on, she begrudgingly told the woman, “Jesus loves you.”
The woman’s response was a confused look, and a question… in Portuguese. She hadn’t understood at all.
Needless to say, the act of obedience felt like a foolish waste of time. But as the bus pulled off and she settled into her seat, the woman approached her with another man. He said, “Excuse me. I speak Portuguese and this woman has asked me to help her talk to you. She said you said something to her, but she couldn’t understand.”
So, one the ride to church that day, she got to share the story of the Gospel with two curious people instead of just one!
Jesus concludes this Vine and Branches teaching saying three things: Our purpose as a creation is God’s Glory. We fulfill that purpose when we live our lives as true disciples of Jesus. The proof of our discipleship lies in our ability to reproduce.
All of that sounds like a huge pressure. It could make us think that we need to work really hard to make God happy. But the truth could not be more different. We do not earn God’s love or our salvation. We cannot hope to make other people believe, that is also God’s work. However, He delights in bringing glory to Himself through us. All He wants from us is surrender. If we will be faithful to trust Him and obey the things we hear from Him, He will be faithful to glorify Himslef in us.
A good friend of mine told me about a woman he was working with in Hamburg Germany. They had been talking about this demand that Jesus makes of His disciples, to be His witnesses in their daily lives. One Sunday, she was waiting in the rain at a bus stop for her ride to Church. As she stood there, she had a strong impression that she was supposed to tell another woman at the stop about Jesus. But she didn’t want to. It was raining. She was tired. And surely, she was only having that thought because she had recently learned about her need to share. It wasn’t really the Holy Spirit telling her to speak to that women. But, as she waited for the bus, the prodding wouldn’t stop.
Finally, as the bus pulled up and they were climbing on, she begrudgingly told the woman, “Jesus loves you.”
The woman’s response was a confused look, and a question… in Portuguese. She hadn’t understood at all.
Needless to say, the act of obedience felt like a foolish waste of time. But as the bus pulled off and she settled into her seat, the woman approached her with another man. He said, “Excuse me. I speak Portuguese and this woman has asked me to help her talk to you. She said you said something to her, but she couldn’t understand.”
So, one the ride to church that day, she got to share the story of the Gospel with two curious people instead of just one!
Comments
Post a Comment