An important part of discipleship is fruit-bearing.  Anyone who is following Jesus will bear good fruit.  Putting this into perspective, Jesus warns His disciples of the consequences of not bearing the proper kind of fruit.

John 15:2 (ESV)
²  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 

These words make it clear that spiritual success depends on fruit-bearing.  If one does not bear fruit he is useless and must be taken away, meaning he must be cut off from the vine. Think about it.  The only purpose for branches on a vine is to bear fruit.  The purpose of the branch is not aesthetic.  Its job is not to just hang there and look pretty.  Its purpose is to bear fruit, period!

Some branches are pretty and perfectly formed and others are ugly and deformed, but that makes no difference to its value.  Some of the most crooked and deformed branches on a vine are the most fruitful ones.  On the other hand, a branch might be full of dark green leaves that are healthy and hearty in appearance but does not bring forth any fruit.  Guess what the vinedresser is going to do with that branch?  He is going to cut it off.  Why?  Because it is not doing what it is meant to do—bear fruit.  Listen to the consequences of this.

John 15:6 (ESV)
⁶  If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

We can easily see by our Lord’s words that fruit-bearing is necessary.  So, what kind of branches are we?  Are we fruit-bearing branches, or fruitless branches?  A fruitless branch is a child of God whose life consists of words without works.  It is a branch that is all leaves and no fruit and is, therefore, unusable.  God, the Vine-dresser, will not tolerate such a thing with His Vine.  Any fruitless branch attached to His Vine must be cut off and removed.  Are we starting to see the importance of bearing fruit?

As we have seen in these blogs this week, the first fruit the disciple will bear is being in the likeness of Christ, and it begins with developing the mentality or mindset of Jesus.

Philippians 2:5 (NKJV)
⁵  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,

When we have the mind of Christ, we will follow in His steps and be like Him (1 Peter 2:21), and that is good fruit.

We will also bear the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23).  This fruit comes by following the Spirit’s instructions found in God’s Word.  Every disciple of Christ will make a habit of this.  Discipleship boils down to a determination to live by the Word of God.  This, in the end, will determine what kind of fruit we bear.  If we decide to live by the Spirit, that is, allow our lives to be regulated by the Bible, it will influence every part of our lives.  It will dictate our attitudes (love, joy, peace), our actions (longsuffering, gentleness, goodness), and our attributes (faithfulness, meekness, temperance).  Remember, if you are not bearing the right fruit, the Vinedresser is going to cut you off and use you as firewood.  What kind of fruit are you bearing?

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.