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- Apr 25, 2006
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THE BRANCH AND THE BRIDE
'I am the vine; you are the branches..' John 15:5
'There goes Jesus again with His fancy analogies,' some of the disciples no doubt thought. Maybe Peter wondered, 'Shouldn't we be doing something useful, like healing the sick?' But Jesus wanted them to understand how important just being with Him was. He didn't want them clocking in and clocking out. 'I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit' (John 15:5 NLT).
But why go for vine as a picture? Wouldn't a palm tree have been better? They produce nice coconuts, and are tall and strong, which could surely represent Jesus. Oh, and the pretty branches too, they could be us! No, Jesus knew exactly what He was saying. The unique thing about the branches of a vine is that they're all interwoven with the vine, so you can't tell what is branch and what is vine.
That's our benchmark too. Our lives should channel His nature, so you can't tell what's 'God' and what's 'us'. He wants us close - as close as a marriage, in fact. Jesus wants us to keep giving every part of our lives to Him, holding nothing back, so that He can transform it. So let's do that!
If a husband only spoke to his wife when he wanted to have sex, it probably wouldn't be long before they ended up on Jeremy Kyle! The more we go to Jesus, the more we'll grow like Jesus.
What now? How has your relationship with Jesus gone, since you started off with Him? Has it improved? Do you feel like a 'branch', indistinguishable from the 'Vine'? What do you need to do today to get it back on track?
written by Bob Gass
'I am the vine; you are the branches..' John 15:5
'There goes Jesus again with His fancy analogies,' some of the disciples no doubt thought. Maybe Peter wondered, 'Shouldn't we be doing something useful, like healing the sick?' But Jesus wanted them to understand how important just being with Him was. He didn't want them clocking in and clocking out. 'I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit' (John 15:5 NLT).
But why go for vine as a picture? Wouldn't a palm tree have been better? They produce nice coconuts, and are tall and strong, which could surely represent Jesus. Oh, and the pretty branches too, they could be us! No, Jesus knew exactly what He was saying. The unique thing about the branches of a vine is that they're all interwoven with the vine, so you can't tell what is branch and what is vine.
That's our benchmark too. Our lives should channel His nature, so you can't tell what's 'God' and what's 'us'. He wants us close - as close as a marriage, in fact. Jesus wants us to keep giving every part of our lives to Him, holding nothing back, so that He can transform it. So let's do that!
If a husband only spoke to his wife when he wanted to have sex, it probably wouldn't be long before they ended up on Jeremy Kyle! The more we go to Jesus, the more we'll grow like Jesus.
What now? How has your relationship with Jesus gone, since you started off with Him? Has it improved? Do you feel like a 'branch', indistinguishable from the 'Vine'? What do you need to do today to get it back on track?
written by Bob Gass
