"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." 

John 15:5 (NKJV)

Jesus compares the abundant life He offers to a branch that draws life-giving sustenance from the vine. You already have abundant life in you as a child of God, and as you are led by His Spirit, He empowers you to enjoy the ever-increasing fullness and fruitfulness of this supernatural life.

The Christian life is one of rest in Christ.

This rest is both a rest from self-effort to earn our salvation and a rest from self-condemning fear which keeps us from encountering God's perfect love. You find true rest by receiving life-giving strength from Christ to be faithful and fruitful throughout your life. This rest flows from a close and intimate relationship with Him, and our level of closeness with the Lord influences our potential to be more productive for God.

Being productive is not the same as being busy.

We can be busy for God and even make significant sacrifices, but our efforts will not produce long-lasting fruit unless we learn to live in the crucial truth of our union with Christ. Being united in Christ, we become producers of “good fruits” wherever we are planted. Jesus’ prophetic imagination for us is that we will not only be fruitful but abound in fruitfulness.

The difficulty of staying faithful and fruitful is a matter of priority. This is because we must take risks and live with the consequences of the choices we make in life. To fulfil Jesus’ desire for us calls for both boldness and courage, prayer and action, and commitment and dedication. Still, it is a rest, not work if we lean on God’s wondrous grace and love to sustain and strengthen us.

Grace draws us into the ambience of God’s love, causing us to embrace His love for the lost and the vulnerable, and we become conduits of His love to them. It is never as simple as doing or doing more. Whatever we do must be motivated by Christ's life, not by compulsion or guilt, and certainly not because of self-glorification. This is where humility is so important. We need God's grace to purify our hearts, knowing that we can do nothing without Him.