John 15:3-6 - Abiding in Christ is also needful to ensure fruitfulness

Be sure that God is constantly pruning us. Why? It’s because God wants to ensure that we are growing and glowing all the time. He wants us to be full of fruits so that we can be a constant reflection of His grace in our life. All of us who have experienced God’s pruning process know how painful it can be. To some, pruning may seem cruel and even wasteful but to us in Christ, it is one needful and a sure way to attain growth, and be constantly bearing fruit. So the main reason God prunes us is to ensure that we bear fruit. And we need to know that no matter how good we are as Christians, God will not stop pruning us, because without His pruning, we will never be in full bloom. God’s pruning will always leave us better than before. It is true that the more we are being pruned the more will Christ be seen in our life. The more the needless parts of our life are cut off, the more productive we will become. Verse 3 tells us that as far as the Lord is concerned, we who trust Him are already cleansed by His word and teaching. And although we are already cleansed by His word, we need constant purification. In other words, our daily flaws need to be dealt with. We must learn to keep short accounts with God.   

Just as a branch needs to remain attached to the vine, so also must we remain attached to Christ. And just as a branch that is severed from the vine cannot bear fruit, so also will a Christian be fruitless once he or she is detached from Christ. This tells us that we must abide or remain connected to Christ if we desire to be fruitful, for apart from Him we can do nothing. There must be an increasing awareness that without being connected to Christ constantly, we become barren. Earlier Christ reminds us that the vinedresser will cut off fruitless branches. In verse 6, we see Christ reiterating again that branches that are fruitless will progressively be removed and gathered for the fire. Hence as far as God is concerned, true believers are never fruitless and barren.    

This is a challenge to remain in Christ and His word so that we can be fruit-bearing believers. We must be connected to Christ through His word. We must be reading, studying and meditating on His Word consistently. And we must be engaged with Him constantly through prayer. We must make the time and be disciplined to do all that. Bear in mind that unlike Christmas trees, we are genuine trees in the Lord. Our fruit comes through abiding in Him. Unlike the decorations on a Christmas tree, our fruits are permanent. Let us remain genuine trees of the Lord!