“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
This verse is a bold and definitive statement without ambiguity or room to spin a different meaning to it. Jesus Christ is Lord and we are not. He does not need us to exist, but we need Him to live and thrive. Branches cannot decide on their own whether to be connected to the vine or sever from the relationship.
For us humans, God gave us the liberty to remain connected to Him or walk away from Him. Yes, we have a choice and each one of us is living out right now the choice we made. The good news is that as long as you are alive you can change your current choice if you are not satisfied with it. Just as a branch has no life of its own apart from staying connected to the vine, so also, we cannot really be alive when we are cut off from God. A freshly detached branch may look alive, but do not be fooled, it will take only a short time before it withers, dries up and fit only for fire.
God created us to remain in Him forever, but we rebelled, sinned, and willingly cut ourselves off from Him. God went the extra mile to reconcile us to Himself through the death of His Son, but we must individually return and remain in Him. Just as a branch that is detached cannot bear fruit or do anything at all, so also anyone who is not abiding in Christ cannot bear fruit or do anything worthwhile.
Summary
Jesus said that He is The Vine, in other words our source of life.
- Followers of Jesus are like the branches on a vine that are called to bear good fruit.
- The good fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
- If we are going to bear good fruit we need to stay connected to Jesus, for without Him we can do nothing.
- We stay connected to Jesus through prayer and Bible reading amongst other things.
Author: Rev. Sunday Bwanhot
Rev. Sunday Bwanhot is EMS/SIM Missionary. He serves as Team leader of SIM Culture Connexions; Pastors of ECWA Chicago and ECWA USA DCC Chairman.