JESUS CHRIST- THE TRUE VINE

In John 15:1-8- Jesus makes another of His "I am" statements. In verse 1 He states: "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser." Also He brings this out in verse 5: "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.

 

That word "abide" means to remain or stay in a certain place. We, as the branches, must remain-- abide- in the true vine- Jesus Christ- in order to survive. As long as we stay connected to the vine, we will flourish and be productive. But when a Christian decides to walk on his own, walk away from the Presence of God- eventually he or she will wither and die. How often have you seen a branch that was broken off a tree continue to have the leaves. But in time, those leaves will have to die because they are no longer receiving nourishment from the tree.



 

On the other hand- when we stay attached to the vine we will blossom and bear fruit. We have several forsythia bushes on our property. Every year or so my husband goes through and cuts them almost to the ground. When he first did this, I thought he destroyed them. But the following year, those bushes bloomed brighter and more glorious than they were before. Just this spring, as I was walking around our yard, I went up to the largest forsythia we have (had) until last year when my husband cut it all the way to the ground. And lo and behold! There was one little sprig of a branch coming out of that stump and it was producing beautiful yellow flowers! What a testament to the Creator and to the work that God does inside of each one of us when we stay attached to Him. As long as that little sprig was attached to the vine (the stump)-- it produced flowers.

 

God uses pruning to cut away the dead wood, just as my husband does to those forsythia bushes. He cuts off the dead wood, the branches that aren't producing well, so that later it will produce even more flowers. Also with grapevines- you have to keep them cut back and there is an entire process to this to produce the most luscious beautiful fruit. But the vines have to be pruned. So it is in our lives, God uses various methods and ways to bring pruning to our lives. He cuts off our dead wood- those areas that are not productive. Sometimes He tells us what to get rid off. Have you had God lately tell you some things that you need to get rid of in your life? I have and He continues to do so. We never fully "arrive". We are always drawing closer to Him and He is drawing closer to those who truly seek His presence. If we are truly seeking Him- I am confident that He will reveal to us things that have to go! It isn't meant to hurt us, but to draw us closer to Him.

We must stay attached to the Vine- Jesus Christ. He is our Head, our very source of life! We must allow that pruning to take place in our lives.

Galatians 5:22,23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."

Revelation 3:19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent."

Dear Lord, I want to stay attached to You- the True Vine. Bring to light those areas of my life that are not productive to the Kingdom and help me to allow the pruning process to take place. I realize that You discipline those that You love in order for us to be even more fruitful and draw us closer to You. Amen.