Drop One Hundred Twenty-three

John 15:5

“I [Jesus] am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (NASB1995).

There was a grape vine with many branches. One of the branches looked at a neighboring branch and envied the fruit that it bore. As it focused on the produce of the other branch, it failed to produce much fruit of its own. The vinedresser assessed both branches. While harvesting the fruit from the fruitful branch, he also pruned away “sucker” sprouts so that future fruit would be more abundant. The envious branch was also pruned – to the point it nearly thought it would die! The branch had not noticed how many “sucker” sprouts were interfering with fruit production. As time went by, the branch grew stronger and began to yield fruit like the neighboring branches.  

There are times in our Christian walk that distractions need to be pruned away. Be patient, the good stuff is coming. Trust the vinedresser [God the Father] and stay attached to the vine [Jesus]. Our job is to abide in Jesus, the Holy Spirit will produce fruit through us.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for protecting us from ourselves. Help us to focus on the work You have given us – abide in You. During the winter holiday season, it is so easy to become distracted with so many traditions, we forget to focus on the true meaning of the holiday. Thank You for coming to dwell with us on earth, die on the cross and rise again on the third day. Because You defeated death and canceled our debt of sin, we are free of the consequence of eternity in Hell and have the hope of Heaven. Without You, we can do nothing. With You, all things are possible. Alleluia!

In the Name of Jesus we pray,

AMEN