Fruit for His Glory

Philippians 2:12-13

Verse 12  Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

    Today we start discussing another vital part of abiding in Christ, radical obedience.

    We have been talking about the importance of the Word in our lives, but reading it doesn’t instantly set our lives right.  If we aren’t intentional about obeying what He says in the Bible, we will find we ourselves withering on the vine.

    In our key verse for the day, Paul is encouraging the Christians in Philippi to continue growing in their obedience to the Father.  He wanted them, and us, to understand that true obedience doesn’t just happen because we call ourselves Christians.  The truest of obedience is worked out daily in our lives.

    Even the youngest of us know that obedience isn’t easy, but that there are consequences to not obeying.  When we aren’t intentional about obeying the result is growing away from God.  Knowing this should bring us to evaluate how intentional we are in obeying His commands.

    The first step to intentional obedience is knowing what we are to obey.  This is one reason we need to be intentional about our time in the Word.  To truly know what He wants us to do, we need to look at His statutes.  But again, knowing them is not enough, we need to obey.

    Obedience to God is not popular in our world, but it is important that we obey Him even though we may stand out as odd.  In fact, it is this obedience, out of love, that bears the fruit that brings God glory and proves that we are His followers (John 15:8).

    Our obedience produces the fruit that shows our attachment to the Vine.  If we are truly abiding in Him, we will be living an obedient life that bears much fruit.

Making It Personal

    Knowing that the amount of fruit of obedience in your lives shows your level of commitment to God, how would you evaluate your relationship with Him?  How do you see obedience lacking in your life?  Why do you struggle with obedience?

Making It Personal Kids

    Is obeying always fun?  Why do you need to obey?  Is obeying Jesus important to you?

Closing Prayer

    Father, we repent of the lack of obedience in our lives.  Please teach us how to fully surrender to Your lordship.  In Jesus’ name, amen.