The Fruit of Obedience

For the past couple weeks, I have been preaching a sermon series from the book of Proverbs. Each week we have been looking at a theme that runs throughout the book and asking, "What does it look like to live wisely in this area of my life?" This morning the topic was family, and in my preparation for the message I realized that Proverbs has a lot to say about family.

One passage that I took a look at this week is Proverbs 5:15-18, where the reader is told to "rejoice in the wife of your youth." In his commentary on the passage, Tremper Longman III pointed out that this passage comes in a chapter that is full of warnings against the "forbidden woman." In the context surrounding the passage, you find repeated admonitions to stay away from the adulteress. But verses 15-18 are the flip side of that coin. Longman explained that the best way to avoid adultery and immorality is to foster a strong and positive relationship with your own spouse.

I found Longman's statement both insightful and true. A married person could walk the streets focused on what he or she shouldn't be doing. Stay away from the adulteress! Or, he could focus on having a solid relationship with his spouse. More than anything else, that may be the most effective defense against temptation.

I think that this principle can be expanded beyond the physical marriage relationship. It also applies to one's relationship with God. I often find myself so focused on resisting sin and fighting temptation. Be sure to avoid this bad thing, and that bad thing, and even that bad thing way over there. I have a list of rules in my head, and I worry about being sure to follow every rule on that list.

To be sure, obedience is important. God gives his people certain commands, and our response ought to be to obey them. But perhaps a more important thing than avoiding all of the sins is to develop a stronger relationship with God. Perhaps that, more than anything else, will produce obedience in our lives. Perhaps that's the center of a holy life.

Maybe that's why the New Testament talks so much about "fruit."

Every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. (Matt. 7:17)

But the fruit of the Spirit is.... (Gal. 5:22)

For the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true. (Eph. 5:9)

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. (Jn. 15:5)

The person who is connected to Christ, who is filled with the Spirit, who is in relationship with God--this person bears the fruit of obedience. Holiness, then, isn't so much about being sure to check off every command on a list in your pocket. It's about abiding in Christ, because obedience then comes as a natural byproduct, just as an apple is a natural byproduct of a branch connected to an apple tree.

My hope is that, in the pursuit of a holy life, I don't leave God behind. That can happen, I think. We become so concerned with doing the right things and avoiding the wrong things, that we forget to foster a relationship with God. But that never works. Only God is holy, and we are holy insofar as we allow ourselves to be filled and led by his Spirit. As Paul told the Galatians, "Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16).

It sounds so much simpler than trying to follow a checklist. But it can be very difficult, because we like checklists. Being Spirit-filled...it seems so mystical. So mysterious. So uncontrollable.

And yet, so fruitful.