January 26, 2018
I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:
TO MAKE ME FRUITFUL (part 1)
John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
In almost any venture in life, it is important for everyone involved to understand their particular “role”. When we work with others, nothing will be accomplished if everyone wants the same position, or is constantly trying to do someone else’s job. When it comes to a family, from the dad all the way to the youngest child or even family pet, everyone involved needs to understand their God given role. A business, a sports team, even a church operates the same way. It is important.
So God quickly, clearly, and emphatically establishes Everyone’s role in the fruit bearing process. In verse one of this passage, Jesus says that He is the vine and God the Father is the husbandman. In this illustration, God the Father and God the Son are the owners if the vineyard, but they have established structured roles. God the Father has the role of owner, and Jesus has the role of overseeing the growth in the vineyard. Christ then establishes in verse five that He is the vine and we are the branches, no questions asked. That clearly means that we have no hope of bearing spiritual fruit in our lives without Christ. It means that He can still grow a vineyard without us, but we cannot grow without Him.
Problems always begin when we, at any time or for any reason, begin to think that we can bear fruit without Christ. We do this all the time. We try to make fruit pop out on our little branch without a clear, unhindered connection to the vine. We think if we work harder, use the most up to date technic, or develop our talent further that somehow we will grow more fruit. We have confused our God given role. The branch is simply a conduit to get everything that is in that vine to go directly into that new fruit. That new fruit cannot grow on that branch unless the branch continues on the vine. The branch does not have what the fruit needs to grow, the vine does.
My point is this; today, do not spend a lot of time trying to bear fruit. Spend time today making sure you have a clear, unhindered connection the Christ the vine. If you do, then the fruit will automatically begin to grow. If you don’t, then it really won’t matter how hard you try or what efforts you make. The fruit simply will not grow.