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Without much effort, John 15:1-17 has become one of my favorite sections of Scriptures. I know nothing about vineyards. I don\u2019t drink wine. I only drink grape juice as part of the Lord\u2019s Supper. So why do you suppose this passage is so meaningful to me? Because I know the importance of being close to Jesus.<\/p>\n
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In this section of Scripture, Jesus refers to Himself as the Vine and to God as the Vinedresser. Jesus\u2019 disciples understood exactly what He meant. There were vineyards around and they had been able to watch the vinedressers care for the vines.<\/p>\n
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But for me, who knows nothing of vineyards, vines, and vinedressers, how can these verses impact my life?<\/p>\n
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In John 15:1-17 (NIV), Jesus tells His disciples to remain in Him 11 times. That\u2019s nearly once a verse. It tells me that Jesus knew we needed to hear that message.<\/p>\n
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How are we to remain in Him? Through Bible reading, Bible study, prayer, worship, fellowship with other believers, meditation upon God\u2019s Word, Communion, living holy lives, and a couple more we\u2019ll talk about in a moment.<\/p>\n
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Once our hearts have been cultivated by Jesus and His grace, we are only able to survive by remaining in Him. Just as a branch cannot survive without being connected to the vine, we must remain connected to Jesus to thrive.<\/p>\n
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If we are to do the work of the Lord, we must remain in Him. We must heed the words of Jesus He spoke in John 15:5b (NIV). \u201cApart from me you can do nothing.\u201d<\/i> If being with Jesus makes us effective for His kingdom, then that\u2019s what we must do. Remain in Him.<\/p>\n
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We also find in John 15:1-17, Jesus repeats the word love eight times. The longer we remain with Jesus, the more we understand love. In this passage, Jesus reminds the disciples of His purpose with these words. \u201cGreater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.\u201d <\/i>(John 15:13 \u2013 NIV)<\/p>\n
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I recall singing a song in college ensemble that quoted these very verses. I sometimes have difficulty reading these words because I tend to sing them. I have searched and searched for this song on the internet and cannot find it. So sorry. It really is a great choral piece.<\/p>\n
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Jesus\u2019 call for us to love runs deep through His message. Regardless of how we\u2019ve been treated, we must love. It doesn\u2019t matter who the person is, we must love. The situation is not to be considered, we must love. Why? Because Jesus loved us (me) enough to die for me.<\/p>\n
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But let me just say, we can\u2019t do this on our own. That\u2019s why we must remain in Jesus. He is able to help us love those who hurt us or who are unlovely. Remember, apart from Jesus we can do nothing.<\/p>\n
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Finally, John 15:1-17 calls us to bear fruit nine times. And not just bear fruit, but bear much fruit. The longer we remain in Jesus, the richer our fruit becomes. That must be our goal.<\/p>\n
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What fruit? Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV) tells us, \u201cThe fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.\u201d <\/i>These are fruit Jesus calls us to bear.<\/p>\n
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And remember, God sent us His Spirit to help us with this transformation. But it takes effort on our part. We need to tend our own hearts to be open to the work of the Spirit.<\/p>\n
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I don\u2019t believe I can move on until I point out that God, as the Vinedresser is inspecting our hearts. This section of Scripture tells us that if God doesn\u2019t see growth, He begins the pruning process. If there is no fruit, God cuts off those branches. These are tough words, but God calls us to this for our own good. We must continue to grow and bear fruit. Always.<\/p>\n
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I\u2019ve mentioned this book multiple times in my blog posts because it is one of my favorite books. Debbie Williams, Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion<\/i> praises God through the alphabet and in her chapter on the Vinedresser, this is what she says.<\/p>\n
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\u201cJesus didn\u2019t just admire His vineyard from heaven; He was a tiller of the soil. Jesus walked with His disciples. He talked to them and planted His seed in their hearts. He spent time with them on His knees in prayer. He trained them to grow upward toward God. Jesus watered them with the flow of His Spirit. He nourished them with His teaching.\u201d[i]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dear friend, Jesus is available to do this same work with you. He desires to have this depth of relationship with you. If you have not allowed Jesus to till the soil of your heart, open up to His gentle touch. If you haven\u2019t deepened your relationship with Jesus to this point, why not take that step to remain in Him on a regular basis.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even though I know nothing about vineyards, I still can understand Jesus\u2019 commands in these verses. Remain. Love. Bear fruit. What a beautiful vineyard!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Donna<\/p>\n