“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples."
John 15:1-8
As we come now to another week in our names of God series, we are today looking at Jesus' name, The "True Vine", a name which points to Jesus as being our source of spiritual life and pointing to the reality that we only thrive when we remain in Him and abide in Christ.
My husband recently put together in our back yard a metal, arched garden bench for me that I absolutely love. At the same time, he planted several morning glories in the hopes that they would grow to vine up and over the arch to cover it with beautiful blooms over the summer.
As I sat out on that bench this morning and looked at the vines already beginning to climb up one side of the arch, it got me thinking - the arch isn't clinging to the vine. The vine is clinging to the arch.
Yes, our passage of Scripture today does speak to our abiding in Christ and remaining in Him, but it also speaks about Him abiding in us and remaining in us. So often we seem to zero in on just the portion that talks about our responsibility, all the while sadly forgetting Jesus'.
I had never thought about this before until just the other day when I first got to thinking about the concept of vines and clinging. On our property, we are working to clear trees to make more room for pasture on our homestead. As we do, we are regularly coming across trees that have vines wrapped around them intently.
And that is when I realized that I had been focusing on the wrong portion of this passage all along. Or, perhaps to put it another way, I had just been focusing on one portion to the negligence of the rest. I had to remember that each section is important and that, when it comes to vines, the tree or the arch don't cling to them. The vines cling to the tree or the arch.
Why is this important?
It's important because, while we do have the responsibility to consciously and intentionally abide in Christ on a daily basis, to remain in Him, and to walk by His Spirit, we are not alone in our efforts here. Just as we seek to abide in Him, Christ is already clinging to us. He is already intentionally holding fast to us, to nurture and nourish us, to strengthen and fill us, and to produce fruit in and through our lives.
It doesn't all depend upon us, friend. We walk by His Spirit, and He does the work. Isn't that a great relief to your soul to remember? I know it is for mine!
Reflection Questions:
1) Is there a certain aspect to abiding that you have been more likely to focus on? Either your abiding in Christ or His abiding in you?
2) How can it be a comfort to think of Christ as faithfully clinging to us as a vine does to a tree or arch?
3) How does the metaphor of a vine shape your view of your relationship with Christ and His work in you?
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