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I’ve been meditating in the first three verses of Psalm 1 (NIV):

1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.

Very simply, it breaks down into:

• What blessed people don’t do (verse 1)
• What blessed people do (verse 2)
• The result (verse 3)

Today, let’s consider the result of Abiding NOT and Abiding IN: fruit!

What is fruit? I like what Mark Greene, a colleague of Neil Hudson, author of Imagine Church, that I refer to occasionally, has done. In Fruitfulness on the Frontlines, he defined six types of fruitfulness. And before I list them, let me hasten to say, these are not six things to add to an already long list of things we think we’re supposed to do! They are better looked at as “How is God using me today?” Here’s the list:

• Modeling godly character
• Making good work
• Ministering grace and love
• Molding culture
• Mouthpiece for truth and justice
• Messenger of the gospel

Normally, when we think “fruit,” we think of the first and last items on the list: modeling godly character is God’s developing in us the fruit of the Spirit as defined best in Galatians 5:

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. (Galatians 5.22, 23, NIV)

The last one, Messenger of the Gospel, is the fruit of people following Jesus because of our influence as seen in John 15.16:

You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain…

If this were just fruit of the Spirit, we wouldn’t have to go anywhere to do it!
I’ve written briefly about these six characteristics of fruit-bearing before, but a review is always good!

In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. (Colossians 1.6, NIV)