Fruitfulness pt.2 - "Cultivating Productivity"

Have you ever grown frustrated with yourself in this Christian journey? I have, and do quite often. We desire to do great things for God but we hit periods in our lives that it seems like we aren't doing much of anything. On top of that we find ourselves slipping back into the things that God has ultimately delivered us from. The desire to do right is there, but for some reason we just can't seem to carry it out (note: Romans 7:7-25). We try and try and exhaust ourselves with trying to produce and nothing, absolutely nothing blossoms. We think, "maybe I just need to try harder," so we toil more, only to find ourselves even more emotionally spent. Then we question ourselves, "Am I saved?" and wonder if we even belong in this life. We can't stand the fact that we can't CONTROL our own productivity, so why even try... Lets be honest, there are times in our lives that we just do not feel very fruitful, and frankly it is pretty frustrating.

I find encouragement to this problem, one that we ALL have (or will have), in John 15:1-17, specifically verse 5. Jesus addresses his disciples and the issue of productivity, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." The point of this verse, and the whole passage is to help the disciples understand that they absolute NEED Jesus if they are going to be fruitful. There is NO way that they can "bear fruit" unless they are "in," "with," or "by (proximity)" Jesus. The point is, they need to stay connected. If they don't they will wither and will be of no use.

I have realized that the reason I grow frustrated with the productivity in my life is because I forget what Jesus said in the b clause of verse 5, "apart from me you can do nothing."

Here's my suspicion:
I suspect that I am not the only person who feels this way at times. Most of us really try hard to bear fruit. The problem is not one of working hard, it is one of working smart. Friends, we have to learn how to stay connected. We often get so caught up in living right and trying to be productive that we lose sight of Jesus. Sometimes we just forget about Christ. As a result, we begin to grow more and more frustrated with life and our fruitfulness ceases no matter how hard we work. We slowly but surely make idols out of the fruit that we bear and no longer deem it necessary to strive to remain "in Christ." We start taking ownership for our own productivity, and not a moment later that productivity ceases.

Here's my challenge:
Let us realize today that the ONLY way we can bear fruit for the kingdom of God is by staying connected (in, with, by) to Jesus. So we need to redirect our efforts. Take time to spend with God in the word. Take time to spend with God in prayer and contemplation. Begin to live and breath the words spoken by Christ. Meditate on God's word continuously. Put the same effort that you put into yourself into your relationship with Christ, and watch your yourself become fruitful again.

Be blessed.