I Am The Vine

In the days when Jesus walked the earth grape vines were grown all over Israel and so when Jesus said; “𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑴𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕; 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝑴𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈,”  (John 15:5.) this was something the disciples could relate to.  Today, not as many of us are familiar with the grape vine or the great level of care it takes to encourage them to bear fruit! 

In the second verse of John 15 Jesus describes our wonderful Father’s care for us by telling us that “𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝑴𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕 𝑯𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚.”  A good look at that Greek word for ‘take away’ tells us that it means, 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘂𝗽, 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝘂𝗽. Not remove altogether!

Sometimes we are battered, perhaps broken, or weighted down with the cares of the world, and we are not bearing fruit, and so our Loving Father comes along and lifts us up.  As any good farmer would raise up the vine that was trailing on the ground, so our God does this for us.  If the vine was left lying in the soil it would be eaten by bugs, mold and disease would form in its leaves, no delicate flowers or fruit would form.  Our Father doesn’t leave us untended; He is the lifter of our heads.  Psalm 3:3 tells us; “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑶 𝑳𝑶𝑹𝑫, 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆, 𝑴𝒚 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒔 𝒖𝒑 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅.”

It’s interesting to note that Jesus repeated the phrase “𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆 ,” this time telling us that if we abide in Him, we will bear fruit.  If we take the time to read His Word, draw near to Him, abide in Him, we will be fruitful.  Jesus wants us to be as close to Him as the branches are on a vine!  His desire is intimacy with you, time spent with you.