Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.
Matthew 21:33 NIV
Bearing fruit for God is not a request He makes without first providing everything you need. In Matthew 21:33, Jesus describes a landowner who planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it, dug a wine press, and constructed a watchtower. He then rented the vineyard to tenants and moved away. Indeed, everything was in place before the tenants ever set foot on the land.
The Generosity Behind the Provision
Consider what that provision really meant. The wall offered security. The wine press supplied the means to process whatever the vineyard produced. The watchtower gave elevation — a high vantage point where approaching threats could be spotted early. Moreover, beyond what the passage explicitly names, one can reasonably infer there was more still. Water for the wine press, tools for the soil, shelter for workers — the owner had left nothing to chance.
The point is not merely that he was generous. Rather, the tenants had been given everything they needed to do one thing well: produce fruit. They could not blame the land, nor a lack of resources. That provision stripped them of every excuse.
The Watchtower We Must Not Leave Empty
The watchtower in this parable carries a sobering warning. Because it rises above the vineyard wall, a watchman stationed there sees the enemy long before he reaches the gate. Consequently, the entire defence of the vineyard depends on someone remaining at that post. The moment the watchtower is abandoned, the enemy can approach unseen. He draws close enough to cause real harm before anyone notices.
This is a picture of spiritual watchfulness. God has built protection around what He has committed into our hands. However, the effectiveness of that protection depends on our remaining alert. When we vacate our post — distracted, careless, or passive — we hand the enemy an advantage. It is one we were never meant to give. Yet when we stay watchful, we see the attack from afar and respond before real damage is done.
What Bearing Fruit for God Actually Means
The owner made only one demand of his tenants: his share of the harvest. He did not ask them to build additional infrastructure. He simply asked for what naturally resulted from cultivating what he had already provided.
God’s expectation of us is no different. He has planted a vineyard in our lives, built a fence around it, and supplied the necessary tools. He now waits for fruit. Furthermore, every fruit we will ever produce exists only because of the provision He first made. We did not create the soil, the seed, or the season. So, ultimately, the harvest never truly belonged to us in the first place.
Indeed, this should give us pause. How easy it is to behave like those wicked tenants — keeping the harvest for ourselves and rationalising our withholding. Yet there is no fruit in our lives that did not first flow from His hand. Bearing fruit for God, therefore, is simply returning to Him what was always His.
Living It Out
Let us not be found withholding from the God who has withheld nothing from us. The vineyard is provided, the wall is standing, and the watchtower is yours to man. Give Him the harvest that belongs to Him.