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 This week's verses are John 15:1-8:

“I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He takes away every branch that does not bear fruit in me. He prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it will bear more fruit. You are clean already because of the word that I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—and I in him—bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown out like a branch, and dries up; and such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and are burned up. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples.

 Jesus is talking here about aligning mankind to his design. We are given a choice: Follow Jesus, and draw our righteousness from him, or separate ourselves and be destroyed. Despite what the theologians of his day might have taught, we cannot inherit his favor simply by having a Jewish blood line, nor can we buy it with good deeds. Our choice is to follow or be left behind. Our righteousness can only come from him.

The Mediterranean has always been known for its good wine. So when Jesus talks about the vines, he is speaking the language of his disciples. If he had come to Northern Europe, maybe he would have talked about apple trees. But here he is presenting the concept that there is a living substance that must flow from him to us, that our nature must draw that out of him.

Just like the vine draws the sap from the trunk and roots, we must draw righteousness from Jesus and produce the fruit we are meant to have. We can no more produce true fruit on our own than an apple branch could flower and fruit when it is cut off the tree. But when it is connected, even when grafted, maybe even especially when grafted, the branch produces fruit.

So here's a question for the scientists to figure out: If you took that same branch, and misted it once a week with a sprayer full of sap, would that produce the same effect as being grafted in?  Because that's what we're doing when our faith consists of getting a surface treatment of Christianity once a week in church. We need to go deeper, and be more systematic about our connection with our Lord. We need to remind ourselves of his truth and connect with him whenever the opportunity arises throughout the day.

So, do you see Jesus the same way that a branch might see its trunk? Is he your source of essence and life? Do you wilt when you are away from him? If not, then maybe it is time to connect and see how much more your life can be than you had imagined.