Midweek Thought ~ The Vine

No I’m not talking about the very nice pub not far away in the village of Hannington! 

The True Vine

John 15v1-8 talks about Jesus as the true vine. I was asked to look at this as part of an opening session of a course I’m just starting. Around the same time one of my daily emails mentioned it to.

Verse 5 says “I am the vine, you are the branches. He / she who abides in Me, and I in him / her, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing”.

Isn’t it easy to think about this passage and focus on bearing fruit? What can I do, how can I get involved, how should I try to bear fruit, does this activity count, what if I fail, maybe I’m useless and don’t have any gifts worth working on, does God grade the fruit, I don’t have much time or energy, is just praying for someone a fruit?!

Here’s the thing that I’ve noticed when looking at it again.... yep, perspective. It’s so easy to get it round the wrong way or immediately have our focus on the outward expression of something rather than where that external evidence may have come from. Surely, when we stop to think about it, it’s obvious that there’s no point in expending energy on worrying about our fruit if we haven’t worked on our roots. What does the verse say? 

1. We can’t do anything without the true vine, which is Christ

2. We can only bear fruit if we’re abiding

So, before we go on about bearing fruit and getting all geared up to perform and get involved in numerous activities and works, we need to abide.  To succeed in producing bountiful fruit, abiding must come before activity. Fruit requires roots. So let’s check our roots first.

To me, the very word abide conjures up the image of being settled somewhere, comfortable, sure and secure.... like I really know the place and am happy living there, it’s home.  Is my spiritual home embedded in the vine, am I truly happy and comfortable there?

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that as branches of the vine, we are there to bear fruit, it is an expected function and outcome. However, to bear fruit worthy of our position as children of God, joint heirs with Christ, we need to tend ourselves, to get nourishment, sustenance, strength and vitality to grow, so that in time this fruit may develop and produce the best bounty of all ... to glorify the Father (v8).

I have a feeling and know from my own personal experience, that the more we focus on abiding and being rooted in the true vine, the growth and subsequent fruit, which will naturally occur as a result, will develop almost without us being conscious of it.

The gift that you have will be evident. The work or role you would be best fulfilling, will be an open door before you. It will be like that verse in Genesis 24 “I being in the way, the Lord led me...”. I take that to be that if we are in ‘the way’, in Christ, in the true vine, then the leading of the Lord as to where we should go, what we should do, how we should use our gifts, will smoothly follow as we just take our next step on this great journey of life. Much fruit will abound.

Many of you will know, and possibly even more now that lockdown has given us the opportunity to grow produce at home, that to receive the outcome we desire when planting a seed, requires dedication and attention. Good soil, food, water or rain, weeding, pruning, pest control and sunshine.... not just once, but over and over. It’s no good going away for a week and giving a plant a weeks worth of watering in advance so that it’s had it due amount! It’s a daily process of care, nurturing and tending. Folks, we need to do this with our hearts. How can we bear fruit to help others and bring glory to God if we aren’t carefully tending our own hearts, every day?

The vine has many branches. We are part of a whole but are unique individuals. We are relational and should be very aware of our fellow ‘branches’. Many verses encourage us to build one another up, to share each other’s burdens (Gal 6v2) and to fellowship... to me that is what a church is, or should be. Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 talk about this as us being one body but all different members or parts, it’s the same pictorial illustration and one worth paying close attention to. We should not try to survive alone, but rather, allow the Holy Spirit to showcase the gifts given to each one of us as we applaud, build up and encourage every individual whose vital presence enables us to function as a whole.

Believe me, I get it, it’s pretty tough right now to feel like we’re bearing much fruit! During this latest lockdown mine has more of a weedy, unhealthy appearance to it. But what I can do is to take the time to dig deep into my roots and abide in the vine. I feel it’s a good time to re-stock on the essential nutrients we need to flourish ... prayer, getting to know my Bible again, teaching my children good truths, singing at home, speaking to God whenever, and sharing with Him my daily angsts (including the burden of home schooling!), taking time to pause and reflect, going out and enjoying the beauty of creation, contacting someone who’s been on my heart, shopping for someone, sharing and encouraging (usually through WhatsApp!), taking time to think about and express what I’m thankful for every day..... the list can go on and I know you’ll have other things to add in for yourself.

Here’s the thing though... I believe that all the above, when you actually stop to think about it, are fruit!  Abiding and fruitfulness go hand in hand.  The one naturally produces the other.  It’s like a cycle, in fact I couldn’t get to sleep the other night so put my light back on and jotted down an A-G list of this cycle which if you can imagine as a circle ⭕️ with A-G around it so that once you get to G then you’re back onto A again, you’ll see what I mean!...

A - Abiding

B - Bearing

C - Continuing

D - Die to self daily

E - Emerge stronger having been tended / pruned (again)

F - Fruitfulness (again... abundance)

G - Growth (even more).... as we Abide and start again.

Not sure if it’s any help to you but I found it useful.  Just remember that it’s less about the fruit and more about abiding, get the order right and the fruit will take care of itself. It’s the quality of being Christ centered and Christ like which matters, not the race to produce quantities of fruit.  What God may require of you will be different to what He will require of me, however one thing will be the same and that is for us to keep ourselves rooted in Christ and after that, to care for and love each other.

May you have a nourished and blessed week with God’s love sustaining you every hour of every day.

Ingrid x