True Vine

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser (John 15:1).

When I was younger, my grandparents lived on a farm in the rural state of Indiana. Their two-story house was surrounded by fresh air, trees, and plants. My sister and cousins and I used to enjoy walking for hours through the fields. As we were walking, we would come across many branches and twigs that had fallen off of the trees. They could be used to throw, to swing, to play with, but you know what they could not do? Grow. A branch can only grow if it’s connected to the tree.

In His seventh and final “I Am,” Jesus declared, “I am the True Vine.” A vine supplies life to its branches and its fruit. It is from the vine that all life flows. It is impossible for fruit to exist if it is not connected to the vine.

It is the same for us in our spiritual lives. If we want to truly live, we must be connected to Christ, the Vine. As we have mentioned previously in this series, Christ is not only the Life-Giver but the Life-Source. We all have our origin in Him. And spiritually, we are dead if we are not connected to Him. Our natural life was His gift, and so is our spiritual life.

Being connected to Christ gives us life, and it also gives us fruit. Just as every healthy branch bears fruit, so we will do when we are in Him. He is looking for the fruit of the Spirit in our lives-love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22, 23). He is also looking for external fruit from us; those people we have led to salvation or greater understanding of God’s ways. But we cannot be fruitful on our own. We are only fruitful if we are in Christ!

So let’s make sure we are connected to the Vine on a day to day basis. Spend time in His Word, reading the Bible and getting to know His character. Spend time praying and seeking Him every day. Draw close to God, and He will draw close to you. He is the Vine, and that is wonderful news for us. He wants to know us more!