In the sermon this past Sunday we looked at the beautiful command to abide in Jesus found in John 15:1-11. Jesus uses a vineyard as a metaphor to describe the relationship between Himself, His Father and His followers. The Father is described as a vinedresser who distinguishes between genuine believers and those who pretend to be a Christian. As you would expect, the Father exposes the nominal or “fake” Christians and cuts them off from the vine. And then we read that the Father prunes and works on those who are genuine believers. Using trials and hardship in our lives, the Father cuts away the meaningless pursuits and futile thinking in every believer’s life that they may bear much fruit. All of this sets up the beautiful command for genuine believers to abide or remain as they already are: attached to the vine. Jesus is illustrating that the Christian life is perpetually dependent upon Him. This is what it means to walk by faith: to live life in complete dependence upon Jesus every day.
Does your daily life reflect a complete dependence on Jesus? Do you spend time with Jesus everyday through prayer and Bible study in order to receive the life-giving nourishment that only He can provide?
