|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| John 15:1-8 |
On this night before His death Jesus and His disciples ate a meal together in the Upper Room. After dinner they followed Jesus down the stairs and out into the night. Some were carrying lamps or burning torches to light the way. They follow Jesus out of the city of Jerusalem. They pass through ancient vineyards between rows of grapes. Jesus stops with vines on each side and the disciples gather around Him. You can see the flicker of the torch light in their eyes. Maybe Jesus took a vine in His hands and used it as an object lesson, as He often did. He began,
 John 15:1,5 |
"I am the vine, and My Father is the vinedresser ... I am the vine, you are the branches." |
Jesus is the Vine. Perhaps when you think about the vine you imagine a long limb with leaves on it that is tied to a fence. But actually that is a branch. But the vine is the trunk of the plant that grows out of the ground. Vineyard keepers traditionally keep the vine about waist height (36-42 inches). At the end of the vine it looks like a knot and from that point branches come out and go in either direction along a fence.
The Father is the Gardener. The gardener is the keeper of the vineyard - either the owner or the person hired to take care of it. The gardener's job is simple - to get from those plants as many delicious tasting grapes as possible. If he takes care of them correctly that will happen.
You and I are the Branches. In the vineyard the branches are the focus of the gardener's care because they produce the fruit. Branches came from the vine and are tied to a fence. This lets the air in around them, to provide as much sunshine as possible and to make it easy for the gardener to take care of them so that they will produce as much fruit as possible. Let's look at the secrets of the vine.
1. IF YOUR LIFE HAS NO FRUIT, GOD WANTS TO CLEAN YOU.
So Jesus said, "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away"(John 15:2). And then He says, "You are already clean"(15:3). What does "takes away" have to do with being "already clean" Well first the word for "takes away" is the Greek word airo. This means to "take up" or to "lift up."
In the spring time when the new branches are growing out of the vine they go down and grow along the ground. But if they stay down there they will not bear fruit. When branches grow along the ground, the leaves get coated in dust and dirt. The branch becomes sick and useless. So does the farmer cut it off and throw it away? No. He goes through vineyard with a bucket of water looking for those branches. And he lifts them up, takes them out of the dirt and washes them off. Then He ties them to a fence where they will stay off the ground. And soon they are doing very well.
As we live and grow in this world it is easy for us to fall into temptation and to go down into the dirt or sin. If we stay down there we will never bear any fruit. God wants to lift us up and clean us so we can bear fruit? John 15:3 says,
John 15:3 |
"Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." |
2. IF YOUR LIFE HAS SOME FRUIT, GOD WANTS TO PRUNE YOU.
John 15:2 |
"Every branch that bears fruit he prunes, the it may bear more fruit" |
God's strategy to get more grapes out of his branches is to cut off some. You see, the gardener's secret for more is less. As the grape-vines grow fast they are so thick that the sun can't reach the area where the fruit grows. If you don't do anything to the grape-vines they will just grow lots of leaves. From a distance they look real beautiful. But only a little fruit. That's why the gardener trims-to produce more grapes.
As Christians we get really busy with all our goals and priorities. From a distance we can look real impressive. But if we keep going our own way there will be very little fruit. And God has to trim us so we will produce more fruit. When we sin God disciplines us. When we are too focused on self God prunes or cuts us and cutting hurts. But the result is more fruit.
3. IF YOUR LIFE HAS A LOT OF FRUIT, GOD WANTS TO ABIDE MORE DEEPLY WITH YOU.
John 15:4 |
"Abide in Me, and I in you...He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit." |
If you look at that place where the vine and the branches meet together, that connection is where abiding takes place. That is where the food flows from the vine to the fruit. If that connection is small then only a small amount of food will slowly get to the fruit. But if that connection is large then a large amount of food will quickly get to the fruit.
Abiding means to be closely connected. God's purpose is not that you will do more for Him but that you will be more with Him. Within six verses in John 15, Jesus says "abide" ten times. As Jesus is soon to die and to leave His friends He passionately says, "We must be together." When Jesus says, "abide" its not a suggestion, its a command.
Notice that we are not able to bear fruit by our self. Jesus says,
John 15:4-5 |
"Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me |
Imagine a grape branch, cut from the vine's trunk and lying in the dust. For that cut off branch to make one new leaf, one new flower or one more grape would be impossible. Some people say that if you just believe in yourself you can be successful. But Jesus says, "without Me you can do nothing."
Now one thing about the place where the vine and the branch meet is that you do NOT see anything great. That is because what is happening is not on the outside but on the inside. To really abide you must deepen the quality of your personal time with God. Listen to Him as you read His word and talk with Him in prayer. The purpose of a quiet time is to spend time with God. To really abide you must increase your devoted time from just a morning appointment to an all-day attention to His presence. Many of us have our QT and then leave God there. But we need to practice the presence of God all day long ... to be aware and remember that God is always with us ... to not ignore Him but communicate with Him all day long.
You can't be fruitful and be living in sin. You must be clean. Your fruit will be small if you are too busy doing your stuff. You must be smaller. He must be larger. God made you to bear more .. to bear much fruit. But you must stay closely connected to the vine.
|
by Steve Nicholes
|
 |
|
LINKS TO . . . |