Concerning the disciples... "They must be great actors in the world, and leave their mark permanently on its history: they must, in fact, take His place, and be in His stead, and carry on the work He had begun, in His name and through His aid." The Training of the Twelve, A. B. Bruce, pg. 411.
Jesus put the duty of the disciples clearly in front of them when He used the parable of the vine. He referred to Himself as "I am the true vine." He also referred to His Father as the "divine husbandman." Note something though: Jesus skips the vine and who they are identified as, but then goes on to mention how the Divine Husbandman deals with the branches which bear no fruit are lopped off, while the fruitful ones are pruned to become more fruitful. This tells us something from the beginning; that Jesus fully intended the disciples to become fruitful. The church's life depended upon it...
"While urgent in His demand for fruit, Jesus does not, we observe, in any part of this discourse on the vine, indicate wherein the expected fruit consists. When we consider to whom He is speaking, however, we can have no doubt as to what He principally intends. The fruit He looks for is the spread of the gospel and the ingathering of souls into the kingdom of God by the disciples, in the discharge of their apostolic vocation. Personal holiness is not overlooked; but it is required rather as a means towards fruitfulness than as itself the fruit. It is the purging of the branch which leads to increased fertility." Bruce, pp. 412-413.
So a key here lies in the spread of the gospel. It lies within the deep realm of the personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We cannot and will not be fruitful in seeing the spread of the gospel without first embedding ourselves within the personal realm of holiness. This is not a half-hearted commitment.
Just as a vine draws its water from the main branches, the Christian must draw their power from the source it is connected. This was the plan from the beginning spoken by Jesus to the disciples. There was no back up plan here. Its original plan was always to be connected to the Savior, the source of life. You ever wonder why we are not seeing souls being impacted by the gospel? Maybe it is because we are not connected to the main branch to where we are drawing nourishment each day!
Over the last few weeks, I have been babying a small poinsettia plant which was given to me during the Christmas season. It came home looking a little puny and dry. It was a gift from someone, so I couldn't just throw it out. We left it in the original pot in the house for a few weeks and watered it regularly. No change. Finally, I went and got some Miracle Grow potting soil and a new pot. I moved it into the new pot, and replaced the old soil (which was really dry with no nutrients). I watered it again and left it inside in a reasonable place for light. No change. Boy, I was tempted to say "that's it, you're just not going to make it!" As I was looking at this little plant, I knew it could be stronger, but how?
Well, I took it outside and placed it within direct sunlight, in its new pot with Miracle Grow potting soil. Over the last week, the little poinsettia has popped back into life. It is now starting to reach its potential!
You see, in our lives, we are trying to make our relationship with the Lord grow with the help of man made steroids like being busy and serving (like the Miracle Grow). These might be wonderful things but they do not replace the personal relationship with Jesus. You see, nothing helped the little plant except to bask in the sunlight each day, where it belonged. It now thrives in the sunlight (its source of life) where it was intended to be from the start. Could we be this stubborn that we are trying to share the gospel without drawing our power from the source?
I think so; even in my own life. Sometimes we think we have something to offer people. We don't. Our source of strength comes from our Savior! Have a wonderful week!
Remember, Wise men still seek Him...
No comments:
Post a Comment