John 15:1-5: I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 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. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 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. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Jesus is the true vine, and God the Father is the vinedresser (v.1). Every fruitless branch in Jesus is taken away, and every producing branch is pruned. Why? Because branches aren’t there only to look pretty or provide support. Branches are meant to bear fruit, and pruning produces more fruit (v.2). The branches refer to Jesus’s then and now disciples (implied here, but clarified in verse 5), who are clean because “of the word that I have spoken to you” — Jesus is the one who does the cleaning up (v.3). This reminds me of when Peter protests to Jesus washing his feet. Jesus explains that if he doesn’t wash his feet, then Peter will have no share with Jesus. Peter exclaims, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” (John 13:1-17).
Next, we have a clear comparison drawn from nature: “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” (v.4). The tulip poplars in the woods behind our house often lose their branches. (They also reseed themselves everywhere but that’s an analogy for another time.) On any given day, I can walk in the woods and find branches at varying levels of decay lying around. Even if one of these branches happens to still have the beautifully unique yellow and orange flower intact, it won’t continue to bloom. Nor should we expect it to. Let’s learn a lesson from creation! That flower isn’t going to last long when it’s cut off from the tree. Likewise, we can’t produce anything worthy of Jesus cut off from him. Why should we expect to have an effective witness or a successful ministry if we aren’t abiding in Jesus and He in us? Yet in my own experience, I’ve been involved with ministries when even the leaders struggled to regularly spend time with God in his Word. How do I know? Because unfortunately, I’ve been that leader! Let’s come alongside one another instead of casting judgment, and be real about the struggles we have in developing good godly habits.
The only reason I’ve been in the Word daily for several years now is because I starting praying for God to give me the discipline to do so, but that prayer quickly turned into a plea for a desire for the discipline, which then turned into an acknowledgment of how desperate I am for God to give me the desire for more of him. The beautiful thing about that prayer is that God is faithful. He answered generously and continues to do so.
Open our eyes! Forgive us for serving you out of our own strength and not allowing you, our source of life, to sustain us. I’m guilty as charged! Lord, I’ve led ministries, served in the church, and called myself by your name in the past when I wasn’t actively pursuing you. Forgive me! I want to be a part of pointing people to you, not in a “don’t do this” way, but as an example of a surrendered life to you. Your way is best!
