Devotional: What are You Building?
From the Faith-Driven Operating System Field Manual
Series: Jesus, Obedience, and the Work We Carry
For those of us who lead, raise families, build businesses, mentor others, or carry responsibility in the marketplace, Ezekiel 15 asks a piercing question:
What is the fruit of your work?
It is possible to build organizations, systems, and good reputations while producing very little fruit that matters to God.
The Bible measures fruit differently than the world.
Not revenue alone.
Not influence alone.
Not visibility alone.
The fruit God looks for includes things like:
integrity when no one is watching
justice in decisions that affect others
humility in leadership
faithfulness in small responsibilities
love expressed in real action
A vine branch exists to produce grapes.
A life connected to God exists to produce fruit.
When the Vine Produces No Fruit
Reflections on Ezekiel 15
“Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take a peg from it to hang any vessel on it?”
— Ezekiel 15:2–3 (ESV)
Ezekiel 15 is a short chapter telling about word God gave Ezekiel a simple but powerful image: a vine branch.
In the forest, a tree has value even if it produces no fruit. Its wood can be used for lumber, furniture, or tools. But a vine branch is different. It is soft, twisted, and weak. It cannot be made into a beam, a table, or even a peg to hang something on.
The vine has only one purpose.
Fruit.
If the vine produces grapes, it fulfills its purpose.
If it does not produce fruit, it has no other use except the fire.
God uses this picture to confront Israel. They believed their identity as God’s people guaranteed their security. But God reminds them that privilege without fruit is empty.
The covenant people were meant to bear fruit that reflected God’s character. Instead, they had become like a vine branch that produced nothing.
The Question Ezekiel Raises is not:
“Are you part of the vine?”
The question is:
“Is fruit growing?”
Because a vine’s value is not in what it claims to be.
It is in what it produces.
Centuries late, Jesus Echoes the Same Warning.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser… Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.”
— John 15:1,5 (ESV)
The connection is not accidental. Ezekiel’s warning points forward to Jesus.
Fruitfulness does not come from status, heritage, or position.
Fruit comes from abiding in the vine.
The Danger Ezekiel exposes is subtle.
People can assume they belong to God while living disconnected from Him. They can speak religious language, hold leadership positions, and still bear very little fruit.
From the outside, everything may look strong.
But God looks at the fruit of the vine.
Practical Reflection
Every successful builder asks:
Is what I’m building actually fruitful?
Not just productive.
Not just busy.
Not just successful.
Fruitful.
Fruit grows from connection to the vine. It grows slowly, quietly, and consistently when the branch remains connected to its source of life.
Reflection Question
Where in your work or leadership do you see real fruit growing from your connection to God, and where might you simply be relying on your own strength?
To that end….
If you’re in the Cedar Park/ Austin, Texas, area, join me Mondays at lunch for CBLG where we discuss having a faith-driven operating system.
We also have Leadership Masterminds, Peer-to-Peer Advisory Boards, and other live and online learning events.
Send me a message for information.
Danny
A Faith-Driven Operating System is a consciously defined framework that governs how a person or business thinks, decides, acts, measures, corrects, and realigns their life under the authority of God. Search my Substack to read about having a Faith-Driven Operating System.
