Be Fruitful

WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL BY PATRICE TSAGUE

What does it mean when God tells us to be fruitful?
How can we be fruitful as entrepreneurs?
How does the concept of being fruitful apply to entrepreneurship and business?

BE FRUITFUL

Typically, when we think of God’s command to be fruitful and multiply, we conjure thoughts and images of families and children, with mankind spreading throughout the whole earth. While this command does indeed have a lot to do with God’s plan for families, the command “be fruitful” refers to much more than procreation. We are called to be fruitful in every area of our lives. Nothing can continue to exist on the earth without fruitfulness – it is God’s way of ensuring that creation continues to abound and flourish.

The word fruitful in Hebrew is parah (paw-raw), meaning “to bear fruit; to be, cause to be, and to make fruitful; to grow; to increase.” When we are fruitful, we take what God has given to us, and we increase and improve it. God gives us the raw materials we need, and we have the fun and exciting job of joining Him in creating something filled with life and purpose.

As entrepreneurs, this means that we can create products and services, add value and quality to the lives of the people we serve, and ultimately help create flourishing economies and lifestyles of abundance. We bring the Kingdom of God to the marketplace, redeeming business with every step we make as we allow God to
direct our hearts. The command to be fruitful is truly an incredible gift!

So, how do we live out this command from our Heavenly Father?

1. We must take hold of the blessing that God has given us 
   Not that I have already attained,[a] or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.– Philippians 3:12 (NKJV)
   
   Genuine fruitfulness cannot be accomplished without God’s blessing. God has given each of us the capability to abound in fruitfulness. Ask God today for a greater understanding of the blessings He has for you, and for the wisdom to walk in the purpose for which you were created.
   
   
2. We must hear God’s voice and obey it
   In Genesis 1:28, God blesses His children and then speaks to them. He is speaking to us, too. Seek Him today with all your heart, and apply your mind to hearing His voice. Move forward in complete obedience to all of His directions and guidance. As Isaiah 50:5 says -” The Lord God has opened My ear, and I have not been rebellious or turned backward.”
   
   
3. Operate in a place of active rest, being completely connected to Jesus, the True Vine
   “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me” – John 15:1-4 (NKJV)
   
   Abiding in the presence of God is necessary for fruitfulness. Make Him the utmost desire of your heart, and the blessing of God will follow.

4. Have a mind to work.
   Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith – Hebrews 12:1 (NKJV)
   
   Abiding in Jesus – resting in His presence through the challenges of our day – gives us the energy to work and run well.

5. Persevere through trials.
   Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. – James 1:2-4 (NKJV)
   
   Trials are God’s methods of pruning us to bear more fruit. Are you feeling the pain of pruning? Praise the Lord! God is taking you to the next level of fruitfulness!

6. Don’t lose what you already have
   “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it” – Matthew 21:43 (NKJV)
   
   The consequence of unfruitfulness is losing what God gave you. Like Jesus’s curse of the unfruitful fig tree (Matthew 21:18-19), or the lazy servant who hid his master’s money instead of investing it (Matthew 25:18), we can lose what we have been given if we do not seek to be fruitful with it. 

7. Operate in God’s purpose for your life
   Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
   And in Your book they all were written,
   The days fashioned for me,
   When as yet there were none of them.
   How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
   How great is the sum of them!
   – Psalm 139:16-17 (nkjv)
   
   Understand that your purpose and destiny in Christ were written before the foundation of the world. We have an enemy who is constantly trying to divert our purpose. Learn to dismiss his lies and walk in God’s truth, fully embracing God’s complete purpose for you on this earth.

My prayer for you today is that you would assess what God has given you, ask Him what He would like you to do with what you already have, and then move forward in faith, abiding in Him and bearing fruit in all areas of your life.