After a recent reading of John 15:1-8, I began to sing a chorus I learned back in the 80s called, “Abiding in the Vine.” The song filled me with joy because I abide in Christ.
Jesus is the true Vine in whom I abide. How would I have made it this far without Him? Perhaps survived, but not this path, nor this life. Everything would be different. That one decision I made forty-five years ago to stop living for myself and follow the Lord changed my life.
Why? Because my hope is in Him. Without Christ, there is no hope. Sure, there’s hope I’ll wake up tomorrow. Hope I won’t lose my job. Hope my children make wise decisions. But I mean eternal hope, now and in life after death. I’ll be face to face with Christ and abide with him forever.
Jesus describes us as branches attached to Him—the Vine. Our purpose as a branch is to produce fruit. But we need to abide in Him. If we, as branches, do not stay connected to the Vine Jesus, we will not produce fruit that glorifies Him.
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him,
bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
John 15:4-5, NKJV
To abide in Christ is to stay in a close relationship with Him. Connect through His Word, prayer, and worship. How can we grow in our walk with the Lord and be productive if we don’t spend time with Him?
The end of verse five states: for without Me you can do nothing. That’s why I said earlier, without the Lord, my life would be different. I am nothing without Him.
What fruit do I want to produce? Galatians 5:22-23a answers that question.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Philippians 1:11 shares another fruit.
. . . being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ,
to the glory and praise of God.
I think fruit can be summed up with one word—Christlikeness.
Bearing fruit brings glory to God. And that’s what I want. To bring glory to my Lord for He has filled me with hope and given me new life in Him.
What song from the past fills you with joy as you sing?
Photo by Rohit Tandon - Unsplash