Our Duty: Producing Something Beneficial for the Kingdom of God (Part 1)

Besides our walking in holiness, the apostle Paul also points out the importance of bearing fruit in every good work. Many believers wonder: well, what does this concept of bearing good fruit mean?

Again and again, the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us, and the other Gospel Scriptures call us to a life of bearing fruit, a life of productivity for the Kingdom of God. Bearing fruit is not an option for the believer; bearing fruit is an obligation, we might say.

But it is not a barren obligation; it is not something we do in a legalistic way, but something that should flow spontaneously from us as a result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives. I believe that everything a believer needs in order to bear fruit for the Lord is, first of all, the presence of the Holy Spirit within him or her, and then a desire and a purpose to bear fruit for the Lord, an awareness that this is what we have been placed in the Christian life to do.

We have not been placed in the Gospel merely to benefit from the Church or from the teachings of the Church, or to inherit eternal life. Nowadays, many people come to church simply to receive something, and many times we pastors are very willing to promote this idea of the Christian life as a life in which God is simply a generous provider who gives us everything we need: the money we want, a happy marriage, a healthy life, financial abundance. But it is as though that were everything, and not enough is said about the Christian’s responsibilities.

One of those responsibilities, as we saw earlier, is to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord, a life of holiness and conduct that reflects the Lord Jesus Christ and is worthy of Him. Another obligation, another expectation for the children of God, is that we bear fruit, that we produce something beneficial for the Kingdom of God, for the Church of Jesus Christ, for the advancement of God’s purposes here on Earth. We are not only to receive; rather, as a fruit of the presence of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit within us, we must also strive to be useful to the Kingdom of God.

That means that, at the very least, we must pray for our church, for the pastors, as we were saying before, and for believers. The life of prayer is one of the most basic things for every believer. When we pray and intercede for people, we are advancing the Kingdom of God. The Lord Jesus Christ prayed: "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," showing us that we should pray simply for God’s will to be done in the world.

Another way we can bear fruit is by praying that God will bless our secular leaders. The Bible calls us to pray for rulers, for people who are in positions of power, so that we may live peaceful lives, so that governments may function as they should, and so that we may make room in the world for God to put in place rulers who fear Him and for politics, history, and the economy to move forward according to God’s purposes on Earth. So one of the minimum things we must do is pray and intercede.

Another minimum thing, another basic way for the children of God to bear fruit, is to support the Kingdom of God through our finances. Every believer should be a tither, should be a cheerful giver, should be someone who contributes to the financial health of the spiritual community to which he or she belongs. In passing, I thank the Lord for those of you who have expressed a desire to support the work of God Speaks Today. This costs money—all that we have to do to keep these programs on the air and to manage our internet presence.

And I know that some of you have expressed a desire to support us financially. I want to encourage you to do that. We are working to build a system through which you will be able to contribute, and I encourage you to stay alert so that, when the time comes, you can begin supporting us and we can spread this God Speaks Today resource to other places.

But definitely, the least we can do is support our local congregations and support anything that advances the Kingdom of God: missions, contributing when there is a need among the children of God, an emergency, a tragedy, or something else. We must be willing to use our money to support the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

So there you have two very basic, essential things that are within reach, almost literally, of every believer: praying and interceding, and also giving financially to advance the Kingdom of God. All of this is bearing fruit for the Kingdom of God. So may God bless you; we will continue our meditation in our next program.