Abide in the Vine
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
In John’s gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples to abide in Him. Jesus starts with the fruit, but then He goes back to the branches and the vine. Jesus is going back to the root. The roots not just the fruits matter. It’s not just the fruit, but roots are critically important. I learned that the roots matter the hard way a few weeks ago.
Photo by Валерия on Unsplash
This spring we cleared out oriental bittersweet to save our trees. We pulled up oriental bittersweet roots which are 15-20-25 feet long, but tangled up in the bittersweet root was another invasive root, that we didn’t notice. There were poison ivy roots!
We didn’t see the poison ivy because we didn’t see the leaves [as a kid, they told you to look at the leaves, but there were not leaves]. After a few days, we started noticing our skin bubbling up and feeling very itchy skin. We thought we were pulling out oriental bittersweet, but somehow we had been pulling poison ivy roots too…
THE ROOTS MATTER!!!
Jesus said, “No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain [abide] in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain [abide] in me” (John 15:4). Jesus starts at the amazing fruit and leafy branch but then He goes back to point out the importance of the vine… The fruit points to the root!
We didn’t see the poison ivy because we didn’t see the leaves [as a kid, they told you to look at the leaves, but there were not leaves]. After a few days, we started noticing our skin bubbling up and feeling very itchy skin. We thought we were pulling out oriental bittersweet, but somehow we had been pulling poison ivy roots too…
THE ROOTS MATTER!!!
Jesus said, “No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain [abide] in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain [abide] in me” (John 15:4). Jesus starts at the amazing fruit and leafy branch but then He goes back to point out the importance of the vine… The fruit points to the root!
True change is focused on the root, not just the fruit. Some want the externals changed, but really what is needed is the deeper vine-level stuff. True change is a gospel transformation at a vine-level, not just a fruit-level.
Let's take a look at this spiritual exercise by Jeff Vanderstelt. Take your time in this spiritual exercise. Pay attention to this section of his article.
- What am I doing or experiencing right now? [FRUIT]
- In light of what I am doing or experiencing, what do I believe about myself? [BRANCH]
- What do I believe God is doing or has done? [VINE]
- What do I believe God is like? [ROOTS]
