Firmly Attached

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!” John 15:5-7. I’m not a gardener, but I know that if a branch is to bear fruit, it must stay connected to the vine.  Every late winter, before the plants begin to green up, the vine keeper prunes the plants to the very nub. The cuttings die and are burned. To the untrained eye, what remains looks dead, but as the warm days of spring approach, the green branches push their way out of the dead-looking vine.  The life-giving flow of water and nutrients, can only reach the developing leaves, and eventual fruit, by way of that connection to the main vine.

Have you every really thought about your life as a branch? Branches don’t have a decision to make, they are naturally attached to the vine, but we do.  Sometimes it seems like fun to be out on our own, away from our source of life, Christ, but it will only lead us to the burn pile.  Scripture tells us that at one time we were in just such a position, as wild olive plants. “…and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root,….” Romans 11:17. What a joy it is to know that I am not only sustained by my connection to Him, but I will bear much fruit.  Sure, pruning is part of the process, but it only serves to make us more abundant.  Watch that you are firmly attached. If you’re feeling less than fruitful, ask the vine-dresser to repair your graft.  Remember, you can’t have true life apart from God.  “…You do not support the root, but the root supports you.” Romans 11:18.