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And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28 ESV)

Whenever you see something show up in Scripture for the first time, it's definitely worth paying attention to. In Genesis 1:28, God gives humans their first directive, "Be fruitful and multiply."  Before you rush to what that might look like in terms of behaviour and activity, let your mind grapple with the word "be," a state of being verb, rather than an action.

In other words, we're talking about something you ARE more than something you DO. Could the experience of revival (which is, in one sense, to be fruitful in life) be more about "being" than "doing"?  

As a new creation, now "in Christ," our identity is now restored to God, unified with Jesus, a child of the Most High, and filled with the power that raised Christ from the dead!   And it's out of this reality that we produce fruit in life.   Jesus would call this state of being, abiding (John 15). The psalmist said it this way: "be still, and know that I am God."  Like a branch connected to the tree, there's an invitation here to just...be.

Considering this further, you'll notice that when the fruit tree produces fruit, it is seemingly effortless. No apple tree sweats it out to create delicious red apples. Strawberry plants don't blow a hernia trying to make a strawberry. No, they just are what they were created to be and…they produce pure deliciousness.  

I posit that this is exactly how we produce good fruit - righteousness, peace, joy, etc. - in our lives: by living into our identity and staying connected in real, tangible ways to Jesus.

One last thing. In order for the river to produce power, it must cease its action and be stopped. Think of the Bennet Dam. In order to harness the Peace River to provide electricity for millions of people, it first needed to be stopped, made still, behind a massive mound of rock and stone.   And then in that place of stillness to be released.

What is one way I can practically abide in Jesus today?

TW