Lent invites us into a quieter place — a season where Jesus gently calls us to examine the soil of our hearts. It’s a time of pruning, surrender, and returning. And in that sacred process, He reminds us of His words:
John 15:4-5 - "Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself: it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing".
It begins with abiding.
During Lent, Jesus often puts His finger on the places in us that have grown wild, distracted, or overgrown. Not to condemn us — but to prune us. And pruning is always a sign of love. A gardener only prunes what he intends to see flourish.
Jen Tan relates her own experience in this when she says -
"Abide first, fruit will be the result. Fruit can’t grow out of our own willpower and human efforts. Its from the union with God. We need to stay connected to Jesus and the only way is to remain in God as we are the branches and we need to be connected to the vine.
No wonder I have tried so many times to love difficult people and still failed. In Matthew 22:39, we are told to ‘love your neighbour as yourself.’ This is a character trait I deeply long to grow in—to love those I naturally find hard to love. Now I understand why I struggled for so long, I was relying on my own strength and willpower. That kind of effort cannot sustain itself. Even when I seem to succeed for a while, the moment something they do triggers my anger, I find myself right back where I started.
Through these verses, I learnt to actively remain in God, to spend time to be in relationship with God. Being still, being quiet, and let his presence fill me. Because it is in his presence that His life flows in you. And it is his life that produces the fruit. To prioritise time with God, to spend time with God in daily basis. Not rushing through prayer, or reading a verse or go to church once a week".
Lent whispers this truth: You are meant to bear fruit — real, lasting, Christ-shaped fruit.
No comments:
Post a Comment