Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

May 27, 2011

                                                              As the Life, So the Fruit

If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
                                                                                 ~ 2 Peter 1:8

  "If we desire to glorify our Lord by fruitfulness, we must have certain things within us; for nothing can come out of us which is not first within us. We must begin with faith, which is the groundwork of all the virtues; and then diligently add to it virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness and brotherly love. All these put together will cause us to produce - as our life fruit - the clusters of usefulness, and we shall not be mere idle knowers, but real doers of the Word. These holy things must abound or we shall be barren. Fruit is the overflow of life, and we must be full before we can flow over.

For real usefulness, graces are better than gifts. As the man is, so is his work. If we would do better we must be better. Let the text be a gentle hint to unfruitful professors, and to myself also."
(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)