abide in the vine

“I AM The True Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 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.

Main Point: God desires you to be fruitful in life, but this can’t happen unless you abide.

How many of you guys enjoy plants? Some people are just naturally gifted at taking care of plants, while others are serial plant killers. Which side do you fall on? Our reason for asking this question is because Jesus makes an incredibly profound statement when He says “I Am the True Vine”. Then Jesus refers to His Father as The Vinedresser. The Vinedresser would be the individual responsible for the health and care of the vineyard.

In verse 2 Jesus says “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away.'' Now just reading this without context, this can make you a little afraid. You might think to yourself, “I don’t want to be taken away from Jesus if i’m not producing fruit”. The good news is if you are in Christ, then you will never be taken away from Him. The Greek word used here for (takes away), is the Greek word is airó. You may be shocked to know that this word means raise, to lift up, take away. This is literally what the vinedresser would do when he came across a vine that had fallen on the ground. When we have seasons in life where we feel fruitless, we don’t have to fear that God will take us away. God will literally lift us up from the dirt, He will raise us up from our circumstances and take us away from that which can hurt us.

Also in verse two Jesus says that those who are bearing fruit, He prunes. This word prune in the Greek means to cleanse, purify, and to prune. God will literally cleanse us and purify us so that we produce more fruit in life. We know this is contextually true because the next verse (3) says “ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.”

The major key is to know that your life is connected to Christ. His life is in you. So, continue to abide and remain there. Trust Him. Derive your nourishment from Him. Know that when you fall short, Jesus lifts you up. Know that when you produce much fruit, Jesus continually cleanses you so that you produce more fruit. God is good!

Deeper Thoughts

- What does abiding in Christ look like to you?

- When the verse says “He takes away,'' we know that word in the Greek means to raise up or to lift up. Have you ever felt God lifting you out of bad seasons and circumstances before?

- When the verse says “He prunes”, we know that word in the Greek means to cleanse or purify. Meditate on this today knowing that God wants you to be fruitful.

-How can you intentionally focus on Christ as being your source of life and provision this year?