THE VINEYARD

Sunday devotional, 2/10/13

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."  John 15:5 NIV 

I am attending a retreat this weekend with the theme of "The Vine Speaks" based on the above Bible verse.  It has been a very uplifting time of studying God's word, singing, and fellowshipping with other Christian women.  The speaker* owns a vineyard in California and is able to share her faith as she gives tours at her vineyard and also as a presenter at retreats like this one.  

There is so much in God's word that the vineyard reflects.  The grapevine and it's tending provides a great analogy of our Christian life, how we are grafted into God's family in Christ, how we are tended to and nurtured by Christ our root stock, and how our lives are thinned and pruned to strengthen us in our faith and focus our energy on what is important to bear the best fruit.  One of my favorite gems so far from this weekend is that pruning does not mean cutting away diseased branches or bad stuff from our lives.  Pruning in a vineyard is actually the cutting away of specific healthy branches that are extra in order to direct the energy of the plant in the best pattern to produce the most fruit.  While pruning is drastic at times, and involves injury to the plant at those cut areas, in the long run it is healthy not only that year, but also in the following years as it builds the plant in the best and most productive way.  So it is with our lives.  True growth is not painless or easy most of the time.  It is not passive as it involves struggle and putting forth great energy. But in the long run as our energy becomes more focused on healthy growth, we are able to build on that in future years to come.  In this way we are able to bear the best and the most fruit for God's kingdom.  With Jesus as our root for stability, structure and nourishment, and the Father as the vine dresser for thinning and pruning, we become the healthy fruitful branches in His vineyard.

“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, and I will 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."  John 15:1-4 NIV

written by Jan Andersen

*(our presenter at the Pacific Southwest District LWML retreat was Cindy Steinbeck of Paso Robles, CA)