Fruit

Re:Verse passage – John 15:6–10; Hebrews 12:10; Acts 13:2–3; Colossians 4:2–4 (day three)

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. (John 15:8)

The history of the vanilla bean is a fascinating story. The vanilla orchid flower that produces vanilla beans is native to Mexico and grows there best because a certain type of bee pollinates the flowers. That certain bee (the Meilpona bee or Euglossine bee) lives only in that area of Mexico. Horticulturists tried for over 300 years to grow them in other parts of the world, but it wasn’t until a twelve-year-old boy, living on an island in the Indian Ocean, figured out a technique for pollinating the vanilla orchids without these bees. After that, growers all over the world were able to help their vanilla orchids produce the fruit they so longed for!

Discipleship can be like that. If we don’t know how to produce fruit, we won’t. When we abide in Jesus, He helps us produce the kind of fruit that glorifies the Lord. In abiding in Him, we also can help others grow in their knowledge and understanding of the Lord, thus helping to produce fruit in them also. The actual process of growing in Him and producing fruit is not a mystery though. Jesus told us exactly how we produce fruit. Are you abiding in Him? Are you growing in Him? What fruit is being produced by your relationship with Jesus?