Floating Branches and Lessons Learned…
Abide in Me, and I in You. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine and 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.
John 15:4-5
When I get the chance to be home, I work with a small group of kids at my church on Wednesday nights. This past Wednesday I was asked to teach and I decided to do a lesson on the first part of John 15. As a group, we read through the whole passage that I wanted to look at, and then we went back through the whole thing in pieces so that we could talk about it and dive into the passage.
We got to verses 4 & 5, read them again, and I asked the group “What can we do on our own?” Being the good church kids that they are, several mumbled “nothing.” I nodded my head and said, “Okay, why?” One of my kids, 12-13, short, freckly, with dark hair, who is slightly academic but also extremely extroverted, shot his hand in the air and bobbed up and down. Half expecting a silly or non-text related answer from this middle-schooler, I looked at him and nodded signaling permission for him to answer. With big gestures the boy answered my question in his most serious and loud voice with a slight tone of “duh!“;
“Well! We can’t do anything apart from Christ because it’s not like you can just find floating branches with fruit on them!”
I was floored. And it took me a minute to process and digest what he said. With all my planning and studying and past experiences with this passage, I had never thought of what Jesus was saying in this way. It seems like common sense…and my kid said it as if it were common sense…and yet I realized in that moment that his statement not only reflected the truth of the passage, but also reflected the truth of our hearts.
We do expect to see floating branches bearing fruit. Or, well, maybe we don’t expect them to float…but it’s equally as silly to see a branch broken from a tree, laying on the ground, and expect it to be filled with life and bear fruit. The branch has to be connected to a life source. No matter how much the branch tries on it’s own, it cannot bear fruit. It cannot be filled with life. The branch has to abide in the tree…and as it simply rests there, the tree’s life abides in the branch and gives it the ability to bear fruit. It’s amazing how God has orchestrated the truth to be evident all around us.
Jesus tells us to abide and rest in Him…He even gives us this great metaphor to show us just how silly it really is for His followers NOT to abide in Him…and yet we still expect that we might bear fruit even if we don’t abide. We think that if we just try hard enough maybe we will bear fruit for God. Fruit is evidence of abiding not striving. Fruit gives glory to the life source, not the bearer.
Abiding is a resting action verb…like trusting…leaning on…or believing. The command here is not to bear fruit; the command is to abide. To be connected to Jesus. To know Jesus. We know him by talking to Him and by reading His Word which is how He will often speak to us. God is interested in us bearing fruit, which means that He is interested in our character…in producing within us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We can’t bear this fruit on our own, but when we abide in Him it’s amazing to see these changes sprout and grow in ourselves and in those around us who are also abiding.
Don’t be a branch separated from the vine…those branches are dead or dying. Connect yourself to the life source and be filled with life. You will also find joy because your purpose will be fulfilled. You are like a branch, your purpose is to connect to the vine and bear much fruit.
