We are designed to be fruitful: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth (Genesis 1:28).
So, anyone that is thinking about being with God in eternity must thus be thinking about working for God, as he serves God during His lifetime, because it is not allowed that anyone should appear before God empty:
Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty. Deuteronomy 16:16
1 Corinthians 3:8-10 “Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
John 15:8,16 “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.Vs. 16 “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.”
Here’s a perspective on how to be fruitful.
Witness Lee, a disciple of Watchman Lee devoted his life to teaching about character. He identified 4 aspects of our lives that determine how well we can serve God.
He mentioned loving God, having a vision, dying to self and having good, strong character. I have developed this in my words to suit the topic at hand.
We must love and desire the glory of God. These days, those who come to the Lord don’t come to Him because they love Him; they come because they want something from Him. He’s usually the last hope after all other avenues had been explored and found unfruitful.
We need to drop that mindset. Christianity is not church going, it is a place to be discipled – a place where you learn to behave like Christ and also work for the Kingdom of God. That’s why He gave the fivefold ministries:
“Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:12)
Matthew 11:28-29 says the same thing but adds that something very important must follow coming to God to cast our burdens on Him– “learn of me”. This is the only way to know the code of conduct in His kingdom and beyond this, know the person (personality) of your Lord and Saviour.
Let’s face the fact: you don’t commit yourself to someone you don’t know very well. That’s the major reason for the lukewarmness in the church. That’s why the Pastor (whom) they know and their church (which they have accepted) takes the place of God in their Christianity. But alas, that’s life in the Christian city where it’s all about church activities, not what the Church stands for – the bastion, custodian and propagator of the truth that leads to loving God and serving God as one journeys to the city of God.
We must have a vision of the Lord and must have had an encounter with him. We need to have revelation that God’s eternal purpose is to work Christ into us and express Christ through us. We must also witness of Him, pray for others, give towards outreaches, help the widows, the poor and the needy – these being the components of service to God.