DO NOT JUST BE A CHANNEL OF BLESSINGS!

Dearly Beloved, DO NOT JUST BE A CHANNEL OF BLESSINGS! “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). It is a common thing to hear people wish to be a channel of the blessings of God to others. That is my wish also. In fact it is part of the goals of my life right from my childhood. However, the desire of Jesus Christ is that His followers are not only channels of His blessings to others, but that they also partake in the blessings. He articulated this in His categorical statement quoted above. What is a channel? A channel can be defined in many ways especially in information and communication technology. However, simply for the purpose of this message, a channel is a route or tool through which something passes from one end to the other. Conduit, hose, tube, pipe, passage, among others are other words used for channel. They all have one thing in common: they do not benefit through what they pass on. They are just intermediary to pass the thing from one place to the other. Many people are just channels of the goodness and blessings of God to others. They are like signposts. They allow God to use them mightily to bless others, but they are not partakers of the blessings. No wonder, they are not bearing the desired fruit that Jesus Christ wants them to bear. Note that such people abound in the world today. They are the ones that Jesus Christ will tell that He never knew in spite of the fact that they “prophesied in [Jesus’] name, cast out demons in [Jesus’] name, and done many wonders in [Jesus’] name” (Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV). Jesus Christ did not refer to His followers as channels, but branches. For a branch of a tree to remain alive and bear fruit, it will remain in the tree, get savor from the tree, make use of the savor, and then bear fruits. A branch that does not remain in the tree cannot get savor from the tree, and if it does not get savor, it will wither and become useless except becoming utility for fire and other purposes that are not originally designed for it. Jesus Christ vividly gave this description in His analogy of the relationship that His followers should have with Him (see John 15:2, 6). Are you a branch of Jesus Christ or just a channel of His blessings to other people? If you will not just be a channel of the blessings of God, but a partaker of His blessings, you need to be a “branch” that will abide in Jesus Christ and be ready to bear fruit – fruit that will last (see John 15:2, 5, 16). Do not just be a channel of blessings! In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). Prayer Point: Pray that you will not just be a channel of the blessings of God, but also a partaker of these blessings.