Abide + Word = Fruit

• John 15:2 (NASB)
• John 15:3 (NASB)
• John 15:4 (NASB)

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"You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you." (John 15:3)

What an odd statement to make in the midst of an analogy on fruit bearing. But it seems to me that there is something inextricably tying together these concepts: bearing fruit for heaven, the words Christ spoke, and abiding.

Perhaps this is the order of things. That Christ was almost reverse engineering the question of "How do I bear fruit? How do I become productive and useful for God's purposes?"

In order to do that, you have to pay attention to Christ's words. It is his words that clean and purify us. But it is not his words alone. Anyone can listen to a speaker without being changed. Stepping back one step more we must actually *begin* by abiding in Christ.

How does one do that?

For me, abiding in Christ means actually going beyond reading the words on the page. It means pondering what Christ actually said; trying to understand what he meant and how that applies to my life.

By drawing these words into our hearts, we are transformed for the better - a little bit at a time.

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