Once, while teaching His disciples, Jesus described Himself as the “True grapevine” and God as “the gardener.” Since Jesus is the vine, His followers are the branches. As such, if we remain in Him and He in us, we will produce much fruit because apart from Him, we can do nothing. In describing God’s role as gardener, Jesus put it this way:

“He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.” (John‬ ‭15:2‬)

Jesus used metaphorical and symbolic language to describe God and the Kingdom in many different ways. With God as the gardener and us as the branches, it is God who examines the fruit of our labor. We know that those who do not remain in Christ will be cut off the vine, gathered up, and tossed into the fire. It is wise to continually examine ourselves as we walk closer with Jesus every day by asking ourselves this question: am I producing fruit or am I in danger of being cut off?

“Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.” (James‬ ‭2:26‬)

Not producing fruit or good works is like not breathing. Put another way, to produce fruit—to do God’s will—should be like breathing for us. It’s that essential! Make certain you are not sitting idly by in your faith. Pour into your spouse and kids. Volunteer at church. Make every effort to obey and follow God’s will for your life. Faith without works is dead and you could be, too.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.