Abiding for Fruit

Desire does not necessarily determine truth or reality.  For instance, one may sincerely and zealously desire to be a musician, but if they never pick up an instrument they will not make the mandatory step from aspiration to fruition.  Or think of a person who, with every beat of their heart and every pulse of their mind, believes themselves to be an artist, but if they never create any art they are no more of an artist than the canvas is a masterpiece.  Intention and desire do not equate to actualization and position.

Obviously, to claim reality based upon desire is both incongruent with truth and dangerous.  However, many people avow to this very thing in reference to Christianity.  For this, one need only think of all of the Christians who profess faith but lack fruit, who claim Christ but neglect His Word, who declare salvation but deny sanctification.  This is like a person who claims to be an athlete without ever playing a sport.  Or as James writes: "For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he looks like (James 1:23-24)."

Consider Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, who was known not only because of His claim to be the Son of God but He backed-up that preposterous claim with signs and miracles, works of the Father that attested to who He was.  In a real sense, who He was became evident by the works that He performed.  Should this be any less true for the Christian?

Jesus spoke directly, "You will know them by their fruit (Matt. 7:16)."  Indicating that the difference between a Christian and an unbeliever should be a sharp one like that of the difference between a raspberry bush and an apple tree.  Know one would ever look at a raspberry bush and expect an apple or look at a banana tree and expect a peach.  The implications for us as believers is clear and should prompt us to an honest but certain assessment: what kind of fruit am I bearing?

At the final analysis, desire to be a Christ-follower is not the same as being a Christ-follower.  If we claim Christ but we continually defile Him in word and deed we are no more Christians than water is not steel; the intention does not match with the reality of being.  If we, on the other hand, desire earnestly to be a Christ-follower and we follow that up with the requisite pursuit of Him, then our desire is confirmed as cohering to reality and, subsequently, we will bear fruit as in keeping with righteousness.  Let us then set our sights and fix our fire upon this, that we not only want to belong to Christ, but we will do what He asks us to so as to confirm that desire and bear fruit inline with that desire!