Stay Connected

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.  …  Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.  Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:1, 4-6

Pastor Dave recently illustrated in a sermon how we do not “suck” from the vine of Christ.  He was indicating that many people think we are to attach to the vine and then “get” all we can from it.  That’s not the way it works.  The trunk of a tree provides the nutrients for the branches and that food and water flows from the trunk into the branches.  When the branches produce leaves and fruit, it is because of the provisions of the trunk which come through the connection of the branch to it and through the branch.

Jesus is telling us here that we cannot produce fruit unless we are connected to Him, the vine of life.  He has to flow through us so that fruit can be produced.  This is assuming, of course, that we want the type of fruit God produces.  Some people do not.

Paul says in Galatians 5:22-23 that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness (kindness), goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”   R. A. Torrey in his book The Presence and Work of the Holy Spirit asks the questions, “Do you wish these graces in your character and life?  Do you really wish them?  Then renounce self utterly and all its strivings after holiness, give up any thought that you can ever attain to anything really morally beautiful in your own strength, and let the Holy Spirit, who already dwells in you if you are a child of God, take full control and bear His own glorious fruit in your daily life.”  We are unable to produce such fruit no matter how strong we are or how hard we try to cultivate our own character.  Paul describes our fruit in verses 19-21 and it’s an ugly description.  Only the Spirit of God which flow from Him to us and through us will produce the fruit described above. 

The most important part, aside from God who is willing to be in such unworthy vessels, is our connection to the vine.  Are we doing everything we know we should be doing to stay connected to the vine?  When is the time we set aside to pray today?  When is the time we set aside to read His words today?  Have we prayed with our wife/husband/best friend today?  If not, when are we going to?  What have we deliberately put into our life so we could grow in faith?  If we do not have something, are we asking God for something that will require us to have faith in Him and Him alone so we might be strengthened in our faith?  In a world of communications connectivity, we need to focus everything and every thought on our connection to Jesus our Savior today and His fruit will abound in us.