“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
— John 12:24
To Timothy, my genuine child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
— First Timothy 1:2
When we bear fruit, it means that we beget children. It does not mean that we manufacture something. As we labor for the Lord, we should ask ourselves, “Am I begetting, or am I manufacturing?” Manufacturing is a process. First you do one thing, then you do another thing, just as in an assembly line. When it is over, you get a product. You have produced something in your work.
When we bear fruit, we should ask ourselves whether we are begetting or manufacturing. To manufacture is cold and lifeless, and when we work in this way, the result is just a product. Once we have such a product it is of no real concern to us; we simply think, “I begot you, and I served you, so now you are my fruit.” Rather than taking this way, our fruit bearing must be in the principle of begetting children.
Adapted from the online series, Serving the Lord as a Seed, Message two, page 4.
Tomorrow: “Bearing Fruit and Begetting Children (3)”