Courting Christ: Bear Him Children

I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples. – John 15:5-8 (HCSB)

Probably the greatest drive in women is the need to bear children. It is so common that we actually have named the drive, calling it their “biological clock”. It’s as if they are a walking time bomb and if that need is not met soon, they will explode!

Rachel exemplified the strength of this biological imperative when she cried out to her husband, “Give me children, or else I die.[1]” Hannah was another woman whose prayers were so passionate - so frenetic - that Eli the priest thought she was drunk[2]!

Jesus referred to the salvation experience as a birth[3]. Like His, our spiritual birth is instigated by[4] and confirmed by the Holy Spirit[5]. As a good bride of Christ[6], it should be our greatest desire to give our Groom children. It is, in fact, His greatest desire. The first command He gave Humanity was “be fruitful and multiply.[7]” And the last command He gave before He left His earthly ministry to return to heaven was again essentially “be fruitful and multiply.[8]”

What a wonderful, mysterious and beautiful process physical birth is[9]! What a privilege to participate in such a miracle! But if you are not able to witness and reproduce your faith in others, you are missing out on an equally life-changing experience. It is not a question of HAVING to lead someone to the Lord. It is a question of GETTING to!

Our passion to spiritually reproduce should be irresistible! A barren Christian life should be unacceptable. Like Hannah, we should pray – not just to give birth – but to return the soul to God as a disciple[10].

Leading someone to the Lord is a work of the Spirit. It is impossible to take the credit for birthing a soul into the Kingdom. We need to make sure that the Word is in us, that the Spirit has all of us and that we are sensitive to which way the Spirit is blowing[11].

We must abide in Christ the Vine, not only trusting Him to get to heaven, but also during the course of our physical, human life here on earth. We must live for, listen to and obey Him. If we do, we WILL bear much fruit and God will get the glory.

[1] Genesis 30:1-2
[2] 1 Samuel 1:12-14
[3] John 3:3-8
[4] John 3:8; 1 Corinthians 6:11
[5] Matthew 3:16-17; Mark 1:10-11; Luke 3:22 cp Ephesians 1:13
[6] Ephesians 5:22-24
[7] Genesis 1:28
[8] Matthew 28:19-20
[9] Psalm 139:13-16
[10] 1 Samuel 1:11 cp Matthew 28:19-20 Note it doesn’t say converts but disciples
[11] John 3:7-8