The Baby in the Manger #4: Vine

Vine (grk: ampelos)

‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  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.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

‘I am the vine; you are the branches. 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 15:1-8

The vine is a common feature in Biblical imagery - without the vine, there is no fruit.   God's people had been described as a vine in the Old Testament, fruitful when they remained in obedience and fellowship with him, but cut off and destroyed when they didn't.

What is spiritual 'fruitfulness'?  It's so tempting to see fruitfulness in the same way as the world sees it - as activities and achievements.  I could attempt to measure my Christian fruitfulness in terms of how many blog posts I can write, how many ways I can serve in my church, or how many conversations I can have that witness of the love of God to others.  These are all good things, but they are not the fruit that Jesus is talking about.

The "fruit of the Spirit" is flavoured and textured with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  But these are merely attributes: the actual fruit of the Spirit is this: you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15)   It is knowing we are adopted as children of God, being filled with his love, and all the peace and perspective, as well as motivation and passion, that that brings.

And how do we bear fruit?  Jesus tells us to 'remain' in him (or 'abide' in him, as some translations put it).  It is one of those commands that seems simple and yet difficult to pin down at the same time!  There are many helpful and yet imperfect ways of putting this into words.  My attempt to do such is this: remaining in Jesus is to keep trusting in the truth of the gospel and letting that guide my every thought.  It is becoming more and more aware of my need for him every day, and thus leaning on him more and more - seeking encouragement from the truth I know and calling out to him in prayer for his help.