Fruition, Part I: God's R.O.I. and Rewards Program

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
John 15:16

The Bible uses the word fruit or fruitful over and over to refer to a return, God’s spiritual return on his investment in us.  Nowhere is this better expressed than in Isaiah chapter 5, verses 1-4:

Isaiah 5

1 I will sing for the one I love

       a song about his vineyard: 

       My loved one had a vineyard

       on a fertile hillside.

 2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones

       and planted it with the choicest vines.

       He built a watchtower in it

       and cut out a winepress as well.

       Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,

       but it yielded only bad fruit.

 3 "Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah,

       judge between me and my vineyard.

 4 What more could have been done for my vineyard

       than I have done for it?

       When I looked for good grapes, 

       why did it yield only bad?

In this context, God is the loving owner of the vineyard, who carefully tended to and protected his investment, the vineyard, and yet it yielded him only bad fruit.  It doesn’t take a great financial mind to understand why the owner would be disappointed. 

In God’s Word, we are instructed, admonished and commanded to bear good fruit.   After all, Christ did pay a huge price to buy our redemption; so bearing good fruit is the least we can do to bring glory and honor to Him.  John 15:8 says, “This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

However, the wonderful thing is that there are promised rewards for those who make the choice to live lives bearing good fruit, those who offer God a good return on His investment in us.  I can readily identify four rewards from God’s Word: protection, provision, perfection, prosperity and peace.

Protection and Provision

Isaiah 27:2-3 read as follows:

2 In that day—
       "Sing about a fruitful vineyard:

 3 I, the LORD, watch over it;
       I water it continually.
       I guard it day and night
       so that no one may harm it.

Here God promises to not only to watch and guard his fruitful vineyard, but to also water it.  For those of us who are fruitful, God will protect us, as one protecting his investment.  Moreover, he will provide for us, as one would water a plant, keeping it alive.

Pruning (Perfecting)

In John 15:2, Jesus says, “… every branch that does bear fruit he [The Father] prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”  This speaks to God’s desire to grow us spiritually, pruning away the unfruitful parts of our lives so that we will be more successful followers of Christ.  As we begin to bear fruit, we will experience exponential growth as Christians, as God’s Spirit works in us.

Prosperity

Psalm 1:3, one of the first passages in Psalms, speaks about the godly man, saying:

      He is like a tree planted by streams of water, 

       which yields its fruit in season 

       and whose leaf does not wither. 

       Whatever he does prospers.

I believe the stream refers to the Spirit of God, and as we are tied into God’s Spirit, we will be equipped to yield fruit.  The promise is that whatever we do will prosper.

Peace

And finally, a fruitful life brings the promise of peace and confidence.   Isaiah 32:17 says “The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.”

It begins with a decision and a simple prayer:

“I want to bear fruit. I want to honor Jesus. I want to walk in his ways. And I will do it no matter what. No matter what life throws at me. No matter what struggles I face. No matter what disease afflicts me or my loved ones. No matter how much success I have financially or how miserably I fail. I will not give up in this one area. So Lord, I give you my heart. I give you my very life. I give you my all.” (Mark Eberly)