LIFE IN THE VINE

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides [lives] in me and I in him, he it is that bears much [abundant] fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5, ESV).

When John wrote the fourth gospel, he was not writing for the saints at the headquarters church in Jerusalem or for the leaders of this new group of people called Christians. John lived in Ephesus, in what then was known as Asia Minor (Turkey), and was the pastor of the growing church there. The focus of his writing was to assist the newly saved grow in faith while living in a community that was overtly hostile to Christianity.

John begins this verse with a clear declaration of identity: “I am the vine; you are the branches.” The question and struggle over identity goes right back to the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:5) and the struggle of man wanting to be like God. John highlights Jesus’ statement because he understands that until the identity issue is settled, there can be no meaningful forward progress. There can only be one vine but there is room for lots of branches. So this is an issue that has to be settled: “He is the vine and I am the branch! He is God and I am not!”

Fruitfulness, in our life as a Christian, comes from our relationship with Jesus. Before a branch in a vineyard can be fruitful, it must be in continual contact with the vine. The vine feeds and nourishes the branch. This is how we grow and become fruitful as followers of Jesus. We draw life from Him, and from that fruitfulness we are able to give out to others.

Try this experiment! Get a knife or a pair of scissors and go into your yard. Pick out a plant and cut off one of the smaller branches. Put that little cutting on a piece of paper in a safe place and see what happens over the next couple of days. Some of you are shaking your heads, saying, “This is silly. I know exactly what will happen. Once the cutting is disconnected from the plant, it will begin to die,” and you are exactly right. The point is very clear—Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches and disconnected from Him we are helpless. We cannot survive; we will wither and die, because “apart from me you can do nothing.”

The little cutting that we set aside is now dead. Within hours dryness began to set in and within a few days the cutting dried up and withered. The possibility of its ever being fruitful is over and gone. So it is with the man (or woman) who habitually neglects his personal communication with the Savior. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” The original meaning for the word nothing is there is no prospect of success, none! Apart from the Vine there is no fruitfulness that counts.

Dryness in us does not begin as quickly as it does in that little plant, but don’t fool yourself, it will start and continue unless we maintain our communication with Him.

I am concerned for the casual Christians who think that going to church once a week carrying a Bible, singing loudly, putting a few dollars in the offering, smiling, and shaking hands is all that is needed to fill up their spiritual batteries. It is encouraging and strengthening to be in lively teaching and worship services but that does not, I repeat, does not, replace the importance of your regular personal time with Him.

I am convinced that it is extremely important for a believer to prioritize his devotional life. Everything else in the believer’s spiritual life is secondary; other things may be important but not as much as being tightly connected to the Author and Finisher of our faith. The devotional life makes or breaks the success of our walk with God.

It is also of great importance to understand that John was telling his friends that in order to handle the pain and pressure of persecution, they had to be connected to the Vine; otherwise, they had nothing that would sustain them. This is an important lesson for us in 2016 as the world around us grows progressively darker and more hostile to followers of Jesus Christ.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4, ESV).