Dependence

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 15:4-5 (NLT)

When I attended college in Switzerland, I had to walk along a path that wound through a vineyard to reach the train station. Residents told me the vines above Lake Geneva grow well because they benefit from the double sun; the sun itself as well as the sun’s reflection off the lake.

What if I had clipped a branch off the vine and then kept it in my dorm room hoping it would produce lovely grapes for me to eat? That’s ridiculous, you might say. Without the vine’s life-sustaining nutrients, the branch will stop producing fruit and wither!

Why then, do we do the same with God? How can we grow and produce fruit pleasing to God if we cut ourselves off from Him? Our primary focus is not to produce fruit but to abide, remain, and be joined to God at all times. Fruit is the byproduct of abiding in Christ.

Let me provide another image or two. A lightbulb does not contain light, electricity does. When the lightbulb is inserted into the proper source of power, then it yields light. A faucet does not contain water, yet it carries water into our home when it is attached to the correct fixtures. In the same way, we do not have it within ourselves to produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are the fruit of a life that abides, that remains firmly attached to Christ.

Thought: “If we are not united to the vine, nothing of any lasting value will come from us.” – John Piper

For further reading:

• Isaiah 26:12
• 2 Corinthians 1:9
• 2 Corinthians 3:5
• Philippians 4:13

Excerpt from A Year in God’s Classroom

https://a.co/d/dnliP8d