HOLY WEEK: LENT DAY 37

I am the vine and you are the branches, cut off from you can do nothing (John 15:5) and my Father is glorified when you bear many fruits (John 15:8). An important part of the Christian life is being fruitful and making sure all that the Lord puts in you do go in vain and this is not just about bearing fruits but bearing quality and much fruits. From the dawn of creation, when God created man, he ordered him to be fruitful (Genesis 1:22), making fruitfulness an integral part of the life of the human person. Barrenness is never in the plan of God and for that, he gives everyone the grace to be fruitful. But again, grace alone is not enough, there is a role the human person must play in the process of fructification. St Paul says he worked hard so that the grace of God in him can be fruitful and not barren and that is what makes him who he is (1 Corinthians 15:10). As a Christian, there is no room for barrenness or unfruitfulness because Lord prunes every branch and gives it all it needs to be more fruitful cutting off the unfruitful ones (John 15:2). Among the promises of God to his people is the assurance that they will be no barrenness neither among them nor among all they own (Deuteronomy 7:14). To better understand why the Lord, insist on fruitfulness, you need to first understand how much he invests in the vine that you are, the groundwork, the watchtower, the security and much more (Isaiah 5:1-4). The Lord has taken all the precautions to make sure that his people should be fruitful so that when he comes to harvest, he might reap good and quality fruits. The lord is patient with his people and even when they fail to produce fruits, he still digs around and puts more fertilizer so that they can have another chance to bear fruits (Luke 13:6-9). Every child of God is like a tree planted by the riverside (Psalm 1:3) or again is like the vine the Lord has planted on the best land so that it takes root and covers the mountains (Psalm 80:8-11), giving it a thousand reasons to be fruitful in abundance. The Lord makes it noble and gives it the best seeds (Jeremiah 2:21), giving it nothing less than the best. There is therefore no reason why anyone who is in Christ should not bear fruits or should be barren. This explains the reaction of Jesus when he approached the fig tree and found out that it had no figs on it (Matthew 21:18-19) or again the anger of the Lord against the vine that produced sour grapes and his plans to abandon it to be trampled and destroyed (Isaiah 5:5-6). To the ones who refuse to bear good fruits, the Lord says they will sing laments of how fruitful their mother was, planted on good land with good irrigation but which now is uprooted and planted in the desert (Ezekiel 19:10-14). You are the vineyard and the pleasant vine of the lord (Isaiah 5:7) but the question is what kind of vine are you? Are you a fruitful fine with good fruits, or a fruitful vine with bad fruits, or an unproductive one? These are three categories, those who are fresh and bear fruits, those who are fresh and bear no fruits, and those who are neither fresh nor bear fruits. The Lord is sowing in all of us every day, hoping that the good seed that is planted in us brings forth good fruits according to various capacities and abilities (Matthew 13:1-9). Being fruitful is an obligation and failure to do so will lead to exclusion John affirms it when he says the axe is already laid to the root of the tree and every tree that fails to produce the good fruits will be cut down and thrown in the fire (Luke 3:9). There is no given age to be fruitful and the psalmist says children of God still fructify even at old age (Psalm 92:14), telling you that at all times, the child of God must be fruitful and keep bearing fruits till they return to the Father. Strive to bear fruits always fruits that endure, good fruits, and do it all for the glory of God, and remember that a child of God is identified by nothing else but the fruits he bears (Matthew 7:20). In Corda Matris.

Resolutions

I resolve to bear abundant and good fruits so that many will come to me.
I resolve to work hard so that the grace of God in me will not be barren.
I resolve to draw more souls to Christ using my life and actions.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I know you are glorified when I bear much fruits. I am sorry for all the times I have been barren and the times my life has given a negative testimony to others about you. prune me daily that I may bear good fruits and lead souls to you. Amen.