Where Are All The Godly Men? - Where's the Fruit?

"If anyone does not abide in Me, He is thrown away as a branch and dries up, and they gather them. and cast them into the fire and they are burned." John 15: 6

A popular movie actor once received a lot of publicity on his stand for cleansing the brutality in Sudan. His efforts led him to be arrested in the goal to stop the killings of innocent people. His stand is admirable, but what becomes of all the people he saves? Is their eternal destiny just postponed? 

Every man has to answer two questions. The first is, who is Jesus and what am I going to do with Him? The second, who am I and what am I going to do with myself? How we answer these two questions will determine who we are and the kind of life we live and leave. 

Jesus told us that He came "to seek and save the lost." In Ephesians, Paul spent a lot of time telling us to submit ourselves to God. John, in his gospel tells us - " This is my Fathers glory, that you bare much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." Our purpose, our mission in life, is to produce the fruit that will harvest disciples for the Kingdom of God. Too many times, we look at our primary purpose as being a successful businessman or a person who saves the lives of innocent people. These are all excellent ambitions, but they should come under the guidance and submission of placing God first in our life. 

Our youngest grandson is a swimmer. He swims for his high school team during swim season and for a swim league the rest of the year. This really requires a lot of commitment and dedication. During high school season, he rises at 4 am in the mornings to make practice at 5 am. One weekend he stayed with us while he competed with a league team in a nearby town. We sent him off at 6 am in the morning for his first day long meet over the next three days. To do his best requires strict diet and rest, so it was pasta the night before for dinner and off to bed at 9:30. I might add, right in the middle of an important basketball game on television. 

He is without a doubt a very committed and dedicated young man. He uses the principles of seeking, submitting, and standing, as a swimmer. He first seeks out to know all he can about swimming and what it takes to be a champion. He gets to know every detail in the start and the turns which can eliminate 1/100 of a second on his time. There are things he does not like to do, but submits these to the purpose he has been called to. That, also, means giving up some things in order to do his best. He then stands firm on being a good representative for himself, his team, and the principles that make up a champion swimmer. The fruit that comes from all this is the inspiration and witness to others, and to win the metal and hear those words - well done fine young swimmer.   

The point is, it takes commitment and dedication to bear fruit from who we are and what we do with ourselves. Being a Godly man does not just happen, it takes as much effort as it does to be a good swimmer. God desires that our lives bare fruit for Him. The Godly fruit we produce will change our world, but if there is no fruit, we end up wasting our lives and watching the world go another way. For those who take the stand, God promises his presence and his blessings. We create a fresh, clean world like breathing the air and feeling the warmth of a new sun on a fresh new spring day after a cleansing rain. For those whose lives are saved, it is a hallelujah day!