5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit; because apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
Dear Friends,
John 15, is one of the most challenging passages in scripture, but one of my favorites. I am offering this devotional to you from “Abiding in Christ” by Cynthia Heald.
Jesus is gathered with his disciples in what will be their final evenings together. He knows that the time for fulfilling his mission is near, and so these last few hours with his disciples are precious. He wants to impart to them his very heart; he wants to leave them with truth that they will never forget.
The scriptures give us the privilege of listening in on this intimate encounter. As I read this passage, I like to imagine how it would fell to be one of the disciples in the upper room with Jesus. As I listen to him speak, I respond in my heart to his teaching.
“I am the Vine, and you are the branches.” – Lord, how easy it is for me to confuse our relationship! I tend to act as if I am the vine. I try to live life in my own strength instead of depending on You for guidance, nourishment, and grace. No wonder the fruit in my life seems to dry up and disappear. “Your responsibility is to abide in Me to let Me abide in you.” – Jesus, you are asking me to take time to stay in Your presence, to allow you to live continuously in me. Sometimes this seems very hard to do. Yet it is as simple as consistently siting at your feet with a desire to listen and receive. “The key to fruit bearing is to stay connected to the Vine.”
Lord, you have said that apart form you I can do nothing. The only way to be fruitful, to become like you, is to stay united to you. I don’t want to live a fruitless life, yet that’s what happens when I try to bear fruit with my own efforts. Perhaps this is why I struggle so often to live according to your will. Instead of striving and straining, my great need is just to be still and abide. “You can do many things without depending on me, but one things you cannot do is bear fruit.” – Lord, you say whoever abides in you will bear much fruit. This is what I desire. To do this I know that I must offer up my ways of doing, to be willing to be transformed by your love and grace, so that my life will bear the priceless fruit that is the product of abiding in you.
“This is what life in Christ is all about, abiding. It is not the fruit-bearing that matters, it is the abiding. The producing comes from the vine; the branches are only the fruit bearers. To be an abiding branch is to be a faithful branch. The fruit will come. And the fruit that is borne, whether it be large fruit or small, abundant or not so abundant, is his doing. Our role is to be attached to the vine of life giving love.”
Reflection: What hinders me from bearing much fruit in my life?
Lord, help us to understand that we don’t need to strive and strain in our walk with you. Help us to rest in you, to abide in you, so that we may always remain connected to the One True Vine that is you. Amen.