Year 6, Day 315: 2 Chronicles 15

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.

Asa is a great hidden gem in the Old Testament.  We don’t hear much about him.  Truth is, besides David and Solomon, we don’t hear much about most of the kings of Israel.  We may hear a bit about Hezekiah from time to time.  People who know what they are talking about will occasionally bring up Josiah and his reforms.  I believe that Asa is one of the best least-talked-about people in the Old Testament.

Look at what happens in this chapter.  A prophet comes to Asa and puts challenge in front of him.  He invites Asa to seek the Lord.  He challenges Asa to bear fruit after finding the Lord.  Asa hears.  He listens.  He absorbs the message that the Lord has for him.  Then he goes forth and acts!

It starts with Asa taking courage.  He goes out and removes the false places of worship.  He repairs the temple of the Lord.  He brings the people together and worships.  Life in the country changes as Asa rises to the challenge and bears fruit!  The fruit of Asa spreads throughout the people!

However, look closely at the scope of Asa’s fruit.  Asa deposes his own grandmother from power.  Imagine telling your grandmother that she is no longer capable of having a place of authority among the people!  Imagine the family pressure that Asa must have felt.  Yet Asa chose God’s ways over the family.  Asa bears true fruit, even if it meant bearing fruit that was difficult and unpopular.

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Year 6, Day 267: Zechariah 8

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 cannot focus on bearing fruit and truly be a follower of God.  We can’t start by looking at our fruit.  After all, does a seed give birth to fruit directly?  No, of course not. A seed gives birth to roots, then a stem, then branches, then a stem, and finally the fruit comes.  The same is true about following God.  We cannot believe in God and then immediately look for fruit to appear.  We need to grow, develop, and mature before we can truly expect to bear fruit.

That being said, fruit is the ultimate goal.  While a young follower of God cannot focus on fruit, the mature follower of God should be concerned with fruit.  It is important for those people who have developed and grown and matured to take a look around and see how they can follow and participate in God’s hand at work in the world.

This is the core of what the exile and its return is all about.  God’s people had been blessed by Him.  They had been given an opportunity to grow and mature.  Instead, they took their prosperity and focused on themselves.  They wanted to better their own life and stopped caring about the lives of the people around them.

This is why God gives Zechariah the following message.  “These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”

When God asks us to focus on fruit, He wants us to focus on how we treat one another.  He loved us when we did not deserve it.  He restores and redeems us when we do not deserve it.  We should do likewise, imitating His unconditional love in community.

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Year 6, Day 234: Jonah 3-4

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.

Jonah is a sad story, and it is a story with which I usually wrestle.  I wrestle with it because if I am honest, I see much of my humanity within Jonah.  When I look into this story, I see that I could so easily be Jonah if I am not careful.

To see what I mean, let’s look at what happens.  After being swallowed by the fish, Jonah heads to Nineveh.  He does it rather grudgingly because he doesn’t want the Ninevites to find salvation.  He wants them judged.  He wants them to receive what he believes they deserve.  He wants the errors of their ways to come back and haunt them.

Is that feeling really very far from any of us?  I know I feel that.  I’m sure that I feel that way every time a car sails past me on the highway, clearly breaking the speed limit.  I feel that way every time I hear about some corrupt politician clearly gaining popularity in spite of their lack of ethics and morality.  I feel that way every time I see someone using someone else unfairly.

To be honest, I’m not sure that such a feeling is inherently bad.  Where it turns bad is when I allow those feelings to cloud my understanding of bearing fruit.  Look again at Jonah.  He proclaims God’s message and the people actually believe!  They repent!  But Jonah isn’t happy about it.  He doesn’t want them to find salvation at all.  This is where it goes wrong.  It’s not wrong to want sin to meet conviction.  It’s wrong when we ever become unsatisfied with repentance.

We are called to bear fruit.  What greater fruit it there than people repenting and finding God?  We should always find joy in that fruit.  When we don’t find joy in grace and repentance, we are focused on bearing the wrong fruit.

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Year 6, Day 124: James 2

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.

James gives us a whole chapter in which we can look at the fruit of our life.  The reality is that even Jesus tells us that we will know each other by the fruit of their faithfulness.  Talking about fruit is not a matter of works-based salvation.  Talking about fruit is a matter of responding to God’s free gift of grace and faith to us.

We begin with partiality.  If a rich looking person walks into a room and I show them better treatment than a poor person, what does my fruit say about my faith?  If a famous person comes in and I treat them better than an unknown person, what does that fruit say about my faith?  If I show partiality based on any sort of higher condition, what does that say about my faith?

What about the next section of scripture?  If I walk by someone, smile, and greet them without caring about the needs in their life, what does that say about my faith?  If I wish someone to have a good day but deep in my heart I can’t wait to pass by them and get on with my life, what does that say about my faith?  If I go to church and shake people’s hands and offer them God’s peace but I never pause to get to know them, know their faith, and hear their needs, what does that say about my faith?

In the last paragraph, James gives us one of my favorites quotes.  You believe in God?  Good!  So do the demons.  In other words, one has to do more than just believe in the existence of God.  Demons know God exists.  What does that get them?  James is arguing that we need to not just believe in the existence of God but also obey His will.  We need to submit to Him and bear that fruit in our life.  If our faith is genuine, our fruit will be present.

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Year 6, Day 110: Hebrews 6

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’ve spent the last three days taking a good long look at salvation.  In Hebrews 4 we hear the author focus on a concern that people fail to obtain the promise of salvation.  In chapter 5 we hear that the author is concerned that people are failing to mature.  In Hebrews 6 we hear that the author is fearful that some are falling away from faith.

In some respects, I think all of these issues are interconnected.  We fail to obtain the promise if we don’t see the value or if we see more value in something else.  We fail to mature when we do not value growth, leadership qualities, hard work, and the calling of the Lord.  We fall away when we fail to put these things into action.  We fall away when we completely cease bearing fruit.  We fall away when we start bearing fruit in another area of our life in place of bearing spiritual fruit.

How do we hear this from the author of Hebrews?  The author says that all will drink from the rain that comes from God.  Some of the land will drink and produce a good crop and be blessed.  Other parts of the land will drink from the same drink and bear bad fruit, thistles, and thorns.  It is important for us to learn, grow, and then put that growth into practice in a way that bears fruit into the lives of other people as God calls us.

As I finish this post, allow me to assert something that I genuinely believe and I assert that the author of Hebrews teaches here in this passage.  If a person truly has the Holy Spirit within them and is being guided by the Holy Spirit, they do not have anything to fear with respect to salvation.  A person genuinely led by the Holy Spirit will know eternal salvation.

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Year 6, Day 87: Jeremiah 34

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.

I felt a little weird picking this topic today.  After all, Jeremiah 34 is about going into captivity under the Babylonian threat.  How on earth can this chapter be about bearing fruit?

The way to bearing fruit starts with God’s mercy.  God sends Jeremiah to the elite in Jerusalem.  He tells them that if they give up their slaves that God will be merciful.  Interestingly enough, they do give up the slaves!  Emancipation abounds!  The people in Jerusalem bear fruit in their relationship with God.  They listen and obey!

Historically speaking, what happens is this.  The Babylonians surround Jerusalem getting ready to take the final steps towards conquest.  The people in Jerusalem emancipate their slaves.  Suddenly, Pharaoh comes out of Egypt – no coincidence in timing, of course – and the Babylonian army has to give up the siege to defend themselves against the Egyptians.

But then they take their slaves back.  They break the emancipation.  They prove that their fruit wasn’t real fruit.

Historically speaking, here is what happens.  When the siege is broken, the Hebrew people realize how much clean-up needs to happen.  They’ve torn their city apart.  The Babylonians left all kinds of debris outside the city.  With so much work to do, the elite decided they needed someone to do it.  They took their slaves back to make them do the work of clean-up.

Unfortunately, we see the dark side of humanity really well in this chapter.  The Hebrew people repent, but why do they repent?  They repent because they want to escape punishment.  The repent because they want to get out of the crummy life they were in.  But their repentance wasn’t because they genuinely wanted to be godly.  They repented because they wanted God to make their life easier.

In God, we are to bear fruit in keeping with our repentance. The problem we see here is that there is no repentance.  The Hebrew people bear fruit in keeping with God’s command, not in keeping with their repentance.  Their fruit isn’t real.  It doesn’t last when the consequences are withdrawn.

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Year 6, Day 61: Jeremiah 8

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.

I think the lens of fruit is an interesting one through which we can view this chapter.  Once more we hear God complaining about the Hebrew people.  But you’ll notice that in today’s verses we don’t focus as much on what they’ve done wrong.  What we can hear as a theme through the text is more along what the people haven’t done right.

They have healed the people lightly.  In other words, they are busy telling the people around them, “Oh, there’s nothing wrong with you.  You’re fine just the way that you are.”  They say, “Peace, peace” when there is no peace.  In other words, the Hebrew people aren’t bearing fruit of repentance and relationship with God.  They are encouraging one another to continue to exist as they want, not as they should.

In another verse, God tells them that they didn’t even know when to be ashamed of themselves.  “They don’t know how to blush,” God says.  Now we find the reason that the Hebrew people can’t correct the lives of the people in their community.  They don’t even know what is right and wrong in themselves!  It’s hard to bear fruit when you don’t even know how.

This brings us to one of my favorite phrases in Jeremiah when it comes to God’s expectation to see fruit in us.  “When I would gather, there are no grapes on the vine or figs in the trees.”  In other words, there is no fruit.  There is nothing in their lives in which God can partake.  What a sad expression of God’s own people.

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Year 6, Day 51: Titus 1

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.

One of the teachings that the book of Titus is known for is Paul’s instructions on appointing church leaders.  Specifically, this first chapter contains a good amount of teaching on the qualifications for a good elder.  While the qualifications may be important, what I really want to do is to take a step back and view this idea through the lens that Paul gives us at the end of the chapter.  How do we know a good elder?  How can we pick a good mentor?  Look into their life.  If their life is bearing godly fruit, then chances are they can help your life bear godly fruit as well.

I hate to say it, but it really is that simple.  Jesus teaches us the same thing when He is talking about blind guides in Matthew 15:14 or Luke 6:39.  If a blind person leads a blind person, won’t they both fall into a pit?  Can a person who isn’t capable at performing a task actually help someone else perform it? 

Of course not.  When we are looking for elders in the church, we want to look for people whose lives bear godliness.  Even more importantly, when we are looking for people to influence our life we need to look into their life and examine their fruit.  If a person does have good fruit in their life, then we should reasonably anticipate that they can help us develop similar fruit in our life.  Conversely, if a person doesn’t have good fruit in their life, why would we ever think that they could help us have good fruit in our life?

Speaking of these people, notice how Paul ends this chapter.  Those people who lack good fruit claim to know God but have no evidence.  Paul calls them detestable, disobedient, and unfit.  Those are some pretty serious words of condemnation.  This is all the more reason to bear good fruit.

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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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Year 5, Day 330: 2 Timothy 4

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.

As Paul goes to finish this letter to Timothy, he puts things back into perspective.  Remember, Paul is in prison, likely to be tried for his ministry.  Timothy is in Ephesus, trying his best to lead a church in spite of his inexperience and his age.  Paul has given advice to Timothy about the future.  Paul has exhorted him to continue the work that he’s begun.  So what is left for Paul to say?

Paul reminds Timothy to continue to bear fruit.  Preach. Reprove.  Rebuke.  Exhort.  Teach.  Be Patient.

In other words, keep making disciples.  Keep helping those who are disciples become better disciples.  Teach other people how to make disciples.  Bear Fruit.

When life gets tough, it is good for us to remember perspective.  When I am being persecuted, it is good to remember the calling that God has for me and to focus on bearing fruit.  When life is easy and things are going my way, it is good for me to remember my calling from God and to make sure I am bearing fruit.  While bearing fruit may not be the complete endgame, it is great at giving us perspective.

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Year 5, Day 21: 2 Kings 23

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Bearing 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.

What a neat story that we have before us!  And what’s sad is that this great king comes so close to the end of the reign of the kings. Even the great reforms of Josiah would not be enough to stave off the rebellion of the people.

However, this should not detract us from our learning from Josiah.  Look at what Josiah does.  He bears fruit.  He bears fruit all over the place!  He takes what God has given to him, abides in the presence of the Lord, and then actually goes out and impacts the world before him!

In the last chapter we saw Josiah go before the Lord.  In the last chapter we saw Josiah listen to the Word and allow himself to be convicted.  In this chapter we see him go through season after season of bearing fruit.  Although we aren’t explicitly told about them, I am sure that there were periods of rest and planning before getting ready to bear more fruit in the various stages that we see occurring.

What can we learn from Josiah?  Rest.  Abide in God’s Word.  Study, learn, focus.  And then put it to good use.  Bear the fruit that God has asked you to bear.  Bear the fruit that God has invited you to bear.

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Year 4, Day 235: Acts 2

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.

What topic would be better in a study after focusing on abiding than bearing fruit?  After all, we abide so that we might draw close to God and be prepared to bear fruit for His kingdom!  Granted, we also bear fruit so that we can abide and grow closer to God.  It is a cyclical rhythm, not a linear progression!

So yesterday we focused on the disciples and their calling to abide and wait for the Holy Spirit.  Now we see them growing and bearing fruit.  The Holy Spirit comes upon them and a powerful demonstration of God’s power is manifested.  People from all over the world hear the disciples speaking in languages that in all reality they couldn’t have known.  Remember, these are fisherman and people like them.  They are scholars who would be world travelers speaking many different languages.  God’s power is put on display indeed!

In the rest of the chapter we also see a very specific example of bearing fruit done through a single man: Peter.  Remember who Peter is.  He is the guy who jumped out of the boat and began to sink.  He is the guy to whom Jesus said, “Get behind me Satan.”  He is the guy who asked all the questions, often had the wrong perspective, and while genuinely desiring to follow Christ he got an awful lot wrong.

But look at what Peter does here.  In this story Peter stands up and takes charge.  He begins to explain things.  He begins to be the person who teaches others.  He is rising up in power and bearing fruit in a new and incredible way.  It is awesome to see.  Peter has taken time to abide and grow, and now he bears great fruit.

But notice something.  Having born fruit, what do we see the disciples doing at the end?  They pause.  The prune.  They go back into their community.  They share among one another.  They abide.  While the focus of this chapter is indeed on the fruit, we do see the full completion of the cycle from bearing fruit back to abiding.

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Year 4, Day 222: Luke 13

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.

Luke 13 is a fairly ominous passage with several points of warning.  We begin this chapter with the stark warning of Jesus, “Repent or perish!”  Immediately Luke takes us from this challenge into the parable of the fig tree.  We have an analogy that supports Jesus’ challenge.

In this parable, this is the third year that the master had come looking for fruit.  But as the theological commentary linked above explains, this is likely the seventh year of the tree’s existence!  I don’t think any of us would really fault the master for expecting some kind of fruit in a tree’s seventh year!

The master is willing to be patient with the tree.  The gardener tells the master that he is going to mulch the tree with all kinds of nutrients.  The gardener wants to put the tree in as best of a position as possible.

God is no different when it comes to us.  God expects us to bear fruit.  But God has also given us the best position as possible in order to do so.  God has given us His Son.  God has given us His Spirit.  God has given us spiritual people around us to support us and strengthen us.  He has every right to expect us to bear fruit given the situation in which we have been placed by Him.

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Year 4, Day 215: Luke 6

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Bear Fruit, Obedience

• 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.
• Obedience: Genuine and satisfying obedience comes out of our identity.  Our true identity comes only from Father.

This chapter really focuses us in on the dynamics of bearing fruit and being obedient.  Take a look at the majority of the stories and teachings presented in Luke 6.

At the beginning of this chapter, we hear about the conflict between the Pharisees and Jesus because Jesus’ disciples eat grain from the field on the Sabbath and Jesus then heals a man with a withered hand on another Sabbath.  The middle of the chapter is all about Jesus telling the people that a life in God looks vastly different – even upside down – than a life of someone who is not with God.  At the end of this chapter Jesus focuses on listening to Him, not quarreling against Him, bearing good fruit, and building one’s house on the rock of His teaching.

Yes, this chapter is absolutely about obedience.  Jesus is concerned about obedience.  The conflict with the Pharisees is all because Jesus is teaching to be obedient to God the Father whereas the Pharisees are teaching about obeying “man’s improvement upon God’s Law.”  Jesus gives us the Sermon on the Plain so that we will have a general idea of the morals and values to which we should be obedient.  We should value things like the times when we are persecuted, the times when we have to rely upon God for food and clothing and shelter, the times when we can love an enemy, and the times when we can pray for those who seek our harm.  Jesus wants us to absolutely be obedient to that identity which comes from the Father.

Of course, in order to be obedient to that identity one will also bear fruit.  A disciple will become like his disciple-maker.  God will use the disciple to make a mark upon the next generation of disciples.  The obedient disciple will build his house and bear fruit in encouraging those around him to do the same.  Bearing fruit is just what obedient disciples do.

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Year 4, Day 189: Joshua 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Abide, Bear Fruit

• Abide: This is a moment, day, or even a season when we focus on God.  It is a time when we are rejuvenated by God.  It is the time for us to gather up what we will need for the coming growth after a season of pruning.  However, abiding is not the end.  We abide so that we can grow, bear fruit, prune, and abide again.
• 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.

I think it would be easy for the Hebrew people to come through the Jordan and simply abide.  After all, wouldn’t crossing the Jordan be a great experience?  Imagine watching all the waters stop flowing.  Imagine knowing that they are held back while you see the ark in the middle of the river.  Imagine being present as you watch the laws of physics being twisted and perhaps even broken.  What an incredible moment.  How easy would it have been to stop and say, “Wow, we’ve arrived!”

God doesn’t let Joshua stay there.  For the record, Joshua doesn’t let the people stay there either.  Joshua looks to the people and says, “We’ve got a land to conquest.  Get some stones so that as we grow and spread through this land we can remember this day.  We may be in a spiritual moment of abiding, but we’ve got some growing to do.  We’re going to conquer this land and bear some spiritual fruit.  We’re going to declare to our children and our neighbors just how great this God is.”

Joshua understands the rhythm of life.  Life isn’t about finding a spiritual high and staying there.  Life is about understanding the cycle.  We abide in the spiritual moments.  We grow after abiding.  We bear fruit after growing.  We prune after bearing fruit.  We abide once more having completed the healthy rhythm of God’s calling.  Joshua gets it.  He doesn’t let the people stay forever in abiding.  He prepares them for the growth and fruit ahead.

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