Today is Sunday, and I consider who I really am. If He my reason
for living, or does He stand on the other side of the door waiting to be invited
inside? Do I believe that I am just fine, when perhaps I am really dying on the
vine? When I believe that I am just where I need to be in my relationship with
Him, then I am dying on the vine.
“I am the vine; you are
the branches,” Jesus speaks. “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear
much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you
are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up,
thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s
glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John:
15:5-8).
He is the vine, and I am
the branch. If I seek Him and daily yield my heart to Him, my life will overflow
with His purpose and His power. If I don't, I will fail. If I don't, there will
be no direction. I I don't seek His heart, my existence is only that. Just
existence. But if He is the heartbeat of my life, His Spirit brings life-giving
power and strength to accomplish what otherwise seems impossible.
If I bring a heart
surrendered to God’s purpose, then I reap His sufficiency instead my own.
However, a heart that believes it has surrendered to Christ, but has not, is a
heart that doesn’t realize it has its own agenda. If I bring such selfishness to
ministry, I am impotent and purposeless. Instead of bringing life, I bring
death. I become a branch that is picked up and thrown into the fire.
“I am the true vine, and
my Father is the gardener,” Jesus teaches. “He cuts off every branch in me that
bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it
will be even more fruitful” (John 15:1-2). Lord, I don't want to be a branch
that is cut off because it bears no fruit. I want to be a branch which bears
fruit, and is willing to be pruned in order to bear more. It may hurt, but it is
for His best and my best. “Those whom I love,” Jesus implores, “I rebuke and
discipline” (Revelations 3:19a). When I bring a surrendered heart, I bring one
that is easily rebuked and disciplined. It is not hardened or self-sufficient.
When I am willing to listen to His voice instead of my own, I have invited Him
to come in and change me. I have become a fruitful vine.
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