On Being Productive

“…Go and bring forth fruit…” — John 15:16

God expects us to be fruitful and productive for Him. Jesus even cursed a fig tree when it failed to produce fruit. It is not how busy we are but what we produce that counts. There can be…

Activity without Accomplishment
Busyness without Benefit
Movement without Mileage
Effort without Effect
Performance without Production
Going without Gaining
Working without Winning
Doing without Delivering

Once an inventor exhibited a wonderful machine. It had 5,626 wheels, gears, shafts and axles eccentric heels, chains and belts, together with too many bolts and nuts and screws and cotter pins to mention.

The machine was about six feet high and at least five feet long. It ran perfectly. When he plugged it in, it began to hum and whirl, and its thousands of wheels and gears began to spin.

The he was asked, “What does the machine do?”

The answer was, “Absolutely nothing! It’s just a bunch of wheels I put together for my amusement in my spare time. It produces nothing!”

How much Christian activity is a whir and a hum and a roar and a clanging of machinery, but nothing comes out! No souls are being saved, no missionaries are sent out, no hearts are stirred to service for Christ.

Sadly, many churches have become just big social centers—places of entertainment with a religious atmosphere, but produce very little fruit.

I ask you: What is your life producing for God’s glory?

Jesus said that He ordained us to “go and bring forth fruit.”