How You Can Bear Fruit That Lasts

Fresh fruit doesn’t last long. So isn’t saying that fruit should “remain” an oxymoron? It’s like saying “forever summer” or “permanent snow” in Kentucky. Summer ends, and snow melts in my part of the world. Similarly, bananas left on the counter last a few days but quickly turn mushy brown. Even canned peaches packed in preservatives have an expiration date; they will go bad at some point.

Yet, Jesus asks that we bear fruit that will remain, or, as John 15:16 says in the NIV translation, “fruit that will last.” As His disciples, we want to be as fruitful as possible in our efforts for the Kingdom of God. We want our fruit to last. But how can that happen when fruit has such a short life span?

Ah, but there is a way fruit will last for eternity: if it reproduces itself. If a peach seed is planted and sprouts into a tree, it produces many peaches with individual seeds. When planted, they will continue the process. An entire orchard of peach trees can originate from one seed planted in good soil.

We plant the seeds and God does the growing. 

1 Corinthians 3:6-7 tells us, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (ESV).

Seeds sprout into trees and the beautiful process of multiplication continues. This life cycle is similar to a grandparent living on through children and grandchildren long after they themselves pass. In a sense, the grandparent “lasts.”

If we share Christ with someone who believes, and they share Christ with others who keep the chain of belief going, eventually many people will come to know Christ. The seeds we planted into that one heart will multiply and bring lasting fruit long after we’re gone. Generations of believers will one day be gathered together in heaven forever.

In Luke 8:8, Jesus says, “‘And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold’” (ESV). If we plant the seed of God’s Word into the soil of good hearts, it will grow to reproduce itself. The prayer is that seeds will continue to multiply through generations to come.

However, if a peach seed is tossed into the trash can, it will not reproduce. That seed may have served a purpose in providing food for one meal or maybe two. It could have been part of an amazing peach pie. It fulfilled a good purpose, but that discarded seed doesn’t keep reproducing itself. To reproduce, it has to be buried in good soil.

We may have secured our place in heaven. We may have had a peach of a life. But if we do not plant His seed in good soil, we will not have reproduced ourselves. Fruit will not “remain” when we’re no longer around. We want our fruit to outlast our life.

Jesus wants you to go for the orchard. Think growth. Think reproduction. Think lasting fruit. A peach seed has to be buried in dirt to reproduce. Better to plant a seed that will reproduce itself many times over than to produce one amazing peach pie.

Think of yourself as the peach seed, whose purposes, plans and ambitions can be buried into the soil of His choosing. In this way, seeds buried in His good soil will eventually yield orchards.

Think of pouring your life into the good soil of another heart. Who around you is open to hearing about the Lord and eager to grow their faith? Scripture encourages us to pour into those who will, in turn, be able to pour into others (2 Timothy 2:2 ESV). Keep the life cycle going.

It takes prayer and discernment to know where and with whom to plant seeds. Ironically,  good opportunities can sometimes smother the best options for lasting fruit. Keep a close connection to the Lord to know where to pour your limited time and resources. Saying “yes” to one opportunity is a “no” to something or someone else.

Say yes to producing fruit that will last. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Pray for good soil. Plant the seeds where He leads. Water those seeds. Give them sunshine. Keep the weeds out. Fertilize. Let the seeds grow. The Holy Spirit will tend to the growth and lead those “sprouts” to places to reproduce and become their own orchards.

In this way, your fruit will last.

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Recommended reading: For a more detailed explanation of spiritual multiplication, read The Master Plan of Evangelism, Revell, (1993) by Robert E. Coleman.

Patty Perkins is the Discipleship Coordinator for Humble Faith Ministries and the author of Prayer: Inviting the Lord Into Everyday Life. She enjoys long walks with her husband and gathering friends and family around her kitchen table. She and her husband love living back home in Kentucky and are grateful for their growing family. They have two grown sons who are married and two grandchildren they adore.