May 27
AS THE LIFE -- SO THE FRUIT
"For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye
shall neither be barren nor fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ" II Peter 1:8
If we desire to glorify our Lord by fruitfulness we must have
certain things within us; for nothing can come out of us which is not
first of all within us. We must begin with faith, which is the
groundwork of all the virtues; and then diligently add to it virtue,
knowledge, temperance, and patience. With these we must have godliness
and brotherly love. All these put together will most assuredly cause
us to produce, as our life fruit, the clusters of usefulness, and we
shall not be mere idle knowers, but real doers of the Word. These holy
things must not only be in us, but abound, or we shall be barren.
Fruit is the overflow of life, and we must be full before we can flow
over.
We have noticed men of considerable parts and opportunities who
have never succeeded in doing real good in the conversion of souls;
and after close observation we have concluded that they lacked certain
graces which are absolutely essential to fruit-bearing. For real
usefulness, graces are better than gifts. As the man is, so is his
work. If we would do better we must be better. Let the text be a
gentle hint to unfruitful professors, and to myself also.