The Secret of a Fruitful Life
If you live in Texas like I do, you know hydration is no joke. When the weather app says “feels like 106,” we’ve learned that means “good luck out there.” We refill our water bottles continuously, lecture the kids to “drink something besides Red Bull,” and make friends with anyone who has a pool.
Our bodies know this truth: water is life. But the same is true of our souls. Without living water, we get spiritually dehydrated, and sometimes we don’t even notice.
Genesis 49:22 describes Joseph as “a fruitful vine near a spring.” His life hadn’t been easy. He’d endured betrayal, slavery, false accusations, even prison. But through it all, Joseph survived by staying near the Source of life.
The picture painted of Joseph is as “a vine whose branches climbed over the wall.” And the reason was because he was tapped into that holy hydration. He drew strength from God’s presence like roots near a spring, and the result was fruitfulness for his own life that overflowed to everyone around him.
That’s the picture of a life near the spring of Living Water. You’re nourished enough to nourish others. As Pastor Jay reminded us, a fruit tree doesn’t eat its own fruit. Good fruit is produced from good nourishment, and that fruit is then available for others.
The visible parts of our lives produce the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. But it’s the hidden parts that tap into the spring. Meditating on scripture, quiet prayer, and moments of worship are all ways we can draw deeply from God’s spring. Then our lives can also produce fruit that will reach over walls and refresh others.
Psalm 1 gives the same image; the righteous are “like trees planted by streams of water.” They don’t wither away in the heat. But when we stop drinking deeply from God’s presence, we get “dehydrated”. Our fruit gets dry, impatient, ugly, unforgiving, and not fruitful enough for anyone to want to eat. Spiritual dehydration can hit fast and means we are barely running on fumes.
The good news is Jesus is always available with Living Water. “Whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst,” (John 4:14). He has refreshing and renewing water that nourishes our soul.
The picture God shows us is if we stay near the spring, like Joseph, we will be able to grow stronger, more fruitful, and even be able to climb walls so that others can receive nourishment and shade.
So, how’s your spiritual hydration? Are you staying close enough to the source to become a fruitful vine, or are you only taking a sip now and then?
Fill your heart with the Word. Pray. Forgive. And worship like you’re drinking from the hose on a hot summer day. Stay near that Water. Because the world around you is parched and dusty, and someone nearby might also need refreshment from the overflow of your life.
Reflection Questions:
• What practices help you stay near the “spring” of God’s presence?
• How does being near the spring change the way you interact with others?
• Who might need to experience the overflow from your “vine over the wall”?
Resources to keep you hydrated
Watch sermon here
