And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."

       And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day (Genesis 1:22-23).
 

 

The very first blessing the Lord pronounced over His creation was to be fruitful and multiply. Children are one of the ultimate blessings we can have. This is why abortion is one of the ultimate forms of the depravity of mankind. Even the beasts will gladly sacrifice their own lives for the sake of their offspring. Only the lowest forms of life, or the most cruel, would ever kill their own young.

 

The very first test of Solomon's wisdom was to distinguish the careless mother from the one who esteemed the life of her child. This is still the basis of true wisdom. Careless means to care less. Careful means to be full of caring. Love is full of caring for others. God is love, and if we are to be restored to the image of God, we must love, which is to be full of caring.

 

Fundamental to nature is to care for the young. However, because of the Fall, the nature we were created with has been severely perverted. True Christianity is a restoration to the place from which we have fallen. This is why it is written in I Timothy 5:8, "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever." If we do not care for the little ones who have been entrusted to us, we are denying that redemption, which is the redemption of our fallen nature.

 

In John 15:1-8 the Lord makes a clear declaration concerning bearing fruit:

 
 

       I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

       Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away;

       and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.

       You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
 

       Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine,

       so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

       I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit;

       for apart from Me you can do nothing.
 

       If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up;

       and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

       If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.

       By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
 

 

If we have true spiritual life, we will bear fruit and multiply spiritually. Galatians 5:22-23 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control...." If we are abiding in the Lord, we should be growing in each of these aspects of the fruit of the Spirit. If we are not growing in fruit, we are obviously not abiding in the Lord.

 

True Christianity is "the path of life." Jesus came to give life, and to give it abundantly (see John 10:10). It is fundamental to our faith to esteem life. In contrast, the devil was "a murderer from the beginning" (see John 8:44). Those who walk the path of life will not only esteem and protect life, but they will multiply life just as God's first blessing to man made possible. If we are walking as we should, we will be leaving behind a trail of life and fruitfulness. The Blessed Creator loves life. He wants to see the world swarming with it. Those who abide in Him will be fruitful, reproducing and loving life.