Year 6, Day 11: Isaiah 27

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Bear Fruit

• Bear Fruit: We bear fruit after we grow.  Bearing fruit is ultimately the goal of abiding and the goal of being called into the Kingdom of God.  However, while bearing fruit is our calling, it is not the end.  We bear fruit so that we can then prune, abide, grow, and bear more fruit in another season.  Bearing fruit is not the end, but rather only a portion of the whole rhythm of life into which God has called us.

We are progressing through a great set of chapters in the middle of Isaiah.  In Isaiah 25 we heard about restoration.  In Isaiah 26 we heard about judgment, salvation, and how God uses consequences to guide us and change us.  In this chapter we deal with what happens after we change.  Here we get a great sense of who God wants us to be.  Here we see what it looks like when we are truly His people, submitted to Him and waiting for Him to act before joining Him.

After the Lord contends with the Hebrew people in the captivities under Assyria, Babylon, and Persia, we hear God make a great promise.  This promise is found in Isaiah 27:6.  After God contends with them, then they shall take root.  Then they shall put forth new growth.  Then they shall bear fruit.  In fact, the will bear fruit all across the whole world!  What is the after effect of God contending with us?  Growth and fruit!

This is a great promise.  This is why we wait for Him.  This is why we pass through his judgment – even if it is a difficult time.  When we let God contend with our sinful human nature we discover that God has cleared room in our lives to take root in Him and not in the world.  We find that God has trimmed away the gnarled branches in order to let healthy branches grow forth.  We find that when we are rooted in God we can bear fruit that is worthy of Him.

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