38. The Father Glorified—

John 15:8 (NRSV) My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit 

and become my disciples.

Much fruit—God asks it of us and we are to see that we give it. God can be content with nothing less and we are to be content with nothing less. Let these words of Christ—fruit, more fruit, much fruit—abide in us, until we think as He does, and we are prepared to take from Him, the heavenly Vine, what He has for us—much fruit. In this way our Father is glorified. Let the very loftiness of this demand be our encouragement. It is so entirely beyond our power, that it throws us more entirely upon Christ, our True Vine. He can and He will, make it true in each one of us.

Much fruit—God asks because He needs. He does not ask fruit from the branches of His Vine for show, to prove what He can do, no! He needs it for the salvation of men and it is in that He is glorified. We are to throw ourselves in much prayer on our True Vine and our Vine-grower. We are to cry out to God and our Father to give us fruit to bring to mankind. We are to take the burden of the hungry and the perishing upon ourselves just as Jesus did when He was moved with compassion. It is in His Power in our prayer, and our abiding, and our bearing much fruit to the Glory of our Father that we will have a reality and a certainty we have never known before.