Root and Fruit

Call to Prayer

Title: Root and Fruit

By: Daniel Peter

Date: 18.03.2024

some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
but other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13:5‭-‬6‬ ‭KJV‬‬

When He walked the earth, the Lord took time to help the disciples understand the way the word affects the life of a man. We must seek to understand this, for only then can we see the importance of us abiding in the word.

Apart from the truth that righteousness is a gift, it is also a fruit, for the scriptures says “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God (Phil. 1:11)”. Again, every fruit of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5 were all character attributes. Naturally, for a tree to bear fruit, it must stay rooted in the ground over some time. And the time it requires for one type of tree to bear fruit may be different from another. In like manner, for us Christians to bear fruit of righteousness (seen in our character), we must abide in the word (like the root of a tree needs to remain in the ground). For some Christians, the process of producing fruit is faster than others.

Abiding in the Word goes beyond just reading the Word, it involves an unwavering faith in the Word (expressed by being fully convinced of it and by our confession). For example, the word has declared us to be the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus ( see 1 Cor 1.30), and for one to bear the fruit of this word, one needs to abide in it by continuously confessing it with unwavering faith. Now, you should not change your confession just because you are still struggling with a particular sin. When you insist on the truth, despite the contradiction you experience in the flesh, the fruit of the word will be seen in your life. One who does like this is the good ground Jesus Christ mentioned in the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:6 KJV).

Again, a mango tree doesn’t become a mango tree by the time it produces mangoes, but it’s already a mango tree even in the process of its growth. In like manner, we are not righteous the moment we start producing the fruit of righteousness (seen in our character and good works), but from the moment we believe the Gospel. This means we should never see ourselves or other Christians as sinners, despite their level of transformation, but we must see them as trees of righteousness (Isaiah 61:3).

Prayer Point

Let’s thank God for His word today. Let’s ask Him to help us stay rooted in Him by abiding in the word, so we can produce fruits of righteousness.