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Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:4-5
It would be easy to think that the purpose of abiding in Christ as a Christian is because it’s the right thing to do. While that is true, Jesus has much more in mind than simply doing the right thing as we daily remain in him.
Think of a Branch that is no longer connected to a tree, no fruit will be produced by that branch.
Jesus uses a branch and fruit as an illustration and gets to the heart of the matter when he tells us that he is the vine and that we are the branches. He goes on to say that whoever remains in him, they will bear much fruit.
It is here that the follower of Christ must pay attention, Jesus is telling us why we are to abide in him. He desires the church to bear much fruit. In fact, in verse 8 Jesus says that God is glorified, and we prove to be his disciples when we bear much fruit.
Abiding in Christ daily is much more than doing what we think we should do, and more about who we are as the church. We are branches and if we are to produce any kind of good fruit, we are to remain in Jesus as long as it’s called today.
Do you see yourself as a branch and Jesus as the vine?
Father God, thank you for your word that is alive and active. I pray that we would see that we are like branches and that Jesus is the true vine. Help us to remember that apart from him we can do nothing and that he desires that we bear fruit. Amen
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