There is an aspect of faith we often overlook. That aspect is time. We live in a moment of history that has an air of immediacy. Information at our fingertips. Messages that would have taken weeks to arrive in the not-too-distant past now take milliseconds. Food preparation for many is as swift as our microwave. We can order nearly everything online and have it arrive on our doorstep. But faith in Christ requires time.
Jesus said, “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener…. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.” ( John 15:1a and 15:4, NLT) The word “remain,” also translated as “abide,” involves time. A grape branch grafted onto a grapevine doesn’t bear fruit immediately. It takes several seasons for that new branch to bear fruit. And the same is true for us as well. (see John 15:1-11)
It is not uncommon for new believers in Christ to experience some early fruit in their lives. That fruit may be a new sense of joy or peace. It could also be the feeling of lightness following the removal of a heavy weight. And sometimes, some habits and addictions seem to effortlessly fall away. In keeping with Jesus’ metaphor, those are like the joyous first leaves demonstrating that a graft was successful. But then the work begins.
The graft is carefully monitored. The vinedresser examines the strength of its connection with the vine and takes steps to improve it. They also look for unwanted buds and suckers that could harm the desired fruit. As the graft grows, it is trained to a supporting horizontal structure. It doesn’t grow where it wants, but as the vinedresser guides it to go.
The keys are time and connectedness. As long as the branch remains connected to the vine, it will grow and eventually produce fruit. The same is true of our faith in Christ. The key to faith is time and connectedness. We cannot be fruitful if we do not remain in Christ every moment of every day.
To remain in Christ doesn’t mean that we become hermits or that we spend all of our time in church. What it does mean is that in everything we do, our connection with Christ remains. Those “everythings” include when we’re at work, at home, in bed, in joy, in sorrows, in the market, with our children, when facing an enemy, when depressed, in health and sickness, leisure and pleasure. Our connection to Jesus is more important than anything else. That connection, however, does not seek to divide us from others but to offer them the fruit of our abiding in Christ. The fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22–23, NLT)
Time is involved. Our fruit in Christ is not immediately fully evident. That is true for others as well as ourselves. And that is the hard part. Not only must we allow ourselves time, but we must allow others the same grace. Faith requires us to trust that God, the vinedresser, is working to grow fruit in them the same as in us. The key in all of this is remaining connected with Christ ourselves and helping others to also become and remain connected. The result is joy. Jesus said, “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” (John 15:11, NLT)
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