Read: John 15:1-11
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. (v. 5)
When I was young, I visited my great-grandparents in Florida. One of the most incredible things about their house, to my young eyes, was the orange tree in their backyard. Every day, we could just go outside and pick delicious pieces of fresh fruit to eat. It seemed so easy! How could that fruit simply grow right there in the backyard? It was my first lesson in agricultural abundance.
Sometimes we think that in order to accomplish great things for God, we need to get out and do something. But the metaphor Jesus gives for fruitfulness is much more passive. “I am the vine; you are the branches” (John 15:5). What do branches do, except just stay stuck to the vine? Yet staying put is precisely what allows them to bear fruit. If a branch is cut off, its fruit will quickly wither. But when we “abide” in Jesus (vv. 4-10), he promises that we will “bear much fruit” (v. 5 NIV). It may not be easy to abide in Jesus, but it is simple. To bear fruit for God, we simply have to stay connected to the vine.
Do you long to see God work through you? Abide in Jesus. Stay close to him, and he promises that through his presence in you, you will bear fruit.
As you pray, ask God to help you to abide in him and bear fruit today.
About the Author
Sarah Sanderson is the author of The Place We Make: Breaking the Legacy of Legalized Hate. She lives with her husband and their four teenage children in Oregon.
