Daily Devotional
Abide and Bear Fruit
The people in the wilderness were not destroyed only by enemies without, but also by corruption within: impatience, murmuring, and the stubborn will that refuses God’s way. Yet the Lord did not leave them to perish. As Justin says, “and then he himself made a brazen serpent and set it on a standard, and bade those who were bitten look at it: and they were saved when they looked at it.” The healing came not to those who argued, but to those who obeyed and looked where God appointed.
So also our Lord says that He is the vine, and those in Him must bear fruit. Tatian records: “Every branch that produces not fruit in me, he takes it: and that which gives fruit, 19 he cleanses it, that it may give much fruit.” To abide in Christ is not an empty name. It is to remain where His word has placed us, to accept the pruning of the Father, and to bring forth obedience: prayer, patience, purity, mercy, steadfastness under rebuke.
Balaam’s road shows another danger. A man may speak high things and yet love crooked wages. God can stop a prophet with a beast, humbling the proud by the lowly. If the Lord opened the mouth of the ass to reprove madness, then no one should despise correction. Better to be wounded now by truth than cut off later for barrenness.
Therefore let us look to the crucified Lord for healing, and let us remain in Him by doing what He commands. The branch that lives bears fruit; the branch that boasts and withholds obedience withers.
“and then he himself made a brazen serpent and set it on a standard, and bade those who were bitten look at it: and they were saved when they looked at it.”
— Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho
“18 John 15:2 Every branch that produces not fruit in me, he takes it: and that which gives fruit, 19 he cleanses it, that it may give much fruit.”
— Tatian, The Diatessaron
For Reflection & Discussion
What complaint, excuse, or stubborn habit must you confess today so that you may obey Christ instead of murmuring against His way?
What one concrete fruit will you practice today as a branch in the vine: set-hour prayer, almsgiving, guarding your tongue, forgiving an enemy, or visiting someone in need?
Where have you resisted correction, and what step will you take today to receive reproof humbly and amend your conduct?
Start the One-Year Plan Today — Completely Free
Read or listen through the whole Bible in 365 days with audio that highlights every word, a progress calendar, streaks, friends — and a devotional like this one at the end of every day.