The Secret of Fruit

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me… the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

We think about fruit all the time — results, outcomes, success people can see. But Jesus moves our attention somewhere else. He does not say work harder for fruit. He says stay in me, and the fruit will come.

A branch does not strain and struggle to produce grapes. It simply stays joined to the vine, and the life of the vine flows through it. Fruit is what happens when you stay connected. It is not a reward for effort.

So much of our tiredness comes from trying to bear fruit while cut off from the source. Without me ye can do nothing. But when you stay in Him, the same life that raised Christ from the dead flows into your work, your words, and your waiting. Stop struggling for fruit and stay joined to the Vine. Stay connected — and let Him produce through you what you could never produce on your own.