When I retired 5 years ago, one of the gifts I received from my congregation was a pair of pecan trees to plant at home. The church property has a small grove of pecan trees that produce a lot of pecans, and I used to enjoy harvesting those nuts and eating the fruit. I also had three pecan trees that I planted at our home in Sherman that were producing a good crop for several years before we sold that home and moved out into the country.

We had bought our property back in 2007. In anticipation of moving out there, I had planted dozens of pecan trees around the property. In spite of my best efforts to nurture and water those trees, only one of them survived by the time we moved there in 2016. Drought and wildlife got most of them. That sole survivor even made it through the construction of our home just ten feet away from it. But it has yet to produce any fruit. It had some wind damage this spring, so I had to cut off a lot of the lower branches. I’m going to give it some more time.

Those two trees the congregation gave me? One of them died the second year. The other is next to my raised garden beds. It stands about fifteen feet tall and is covered with pecans this year. I am eagerly looking forward to the end of October!

Some trees produce. Others don’t. We all know that. And Jesus used that analogy to describe how people respond to the news that He is the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

John 15:1–8 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Only those attached to Jesus will bear fruit. Your attachment is not your good deeds or efforts. The only way to be attached to “the vine” is to have faith that Jesus is who He says He is: God, your Savior from sin and death. The Holy Spirit leads you to this faith and the certainty that you have forgiveness and eternal life because Jesus paid your debt. What a joy to be led to this confidence!

Because you are attached to Jesus through faith, the natural result should be good works that show your faith to the world around you. We try to live the life God wants us to live, doing “good works,” to thank our God for what He did through the cross and the empty tomb. And Jesus reminds us that doing so tells the world that we are His followers: This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Lord, help me to be a disciple that bears fruit for you. Amen.