“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:5-7 NIV)
You get to choose!
This promise has both positives and negatives, and you get to choose what part you get. Jesus says He is “the vine” and you are “the branches”. If you will abide in (receive, obey, follow, adhere to) Him, something wonderful will then happen, you will “produce much fruit”. But, on the other hand, (the negative part) if you do not abide in Him, you will wither, die, and you will be thrown into the fire and burned! So, it’s a no brainier, remain!
And another wonderful promise is added at the end of this passage!
Jesus said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” This promise tells you how important it is to have the Word of God within you and what it will do! It will allow you to “ask whatever you desire and it will be done for you.” Wow, what a promise! Another no brainier about what to do.
Learn to cling!
Understand that what Jesus is saying to do here is not really difficult! Simply, abide in Him (cling to the branch, so to speak) and then have His Word abide in you.
No downside!
Actually, when you think about “abiding in Jesus,” there just isn’t a downside to it! Fruit is produced in your life, when you sow, and what you ask for, you will get! Not a bad deal at all.
The old oak tree!
As I was pondering this passage about abiding in the vine, I remembered an unusual old oak tree that grew near where I lived as a child. It did not drop its leaves in the fall like other trees did. Instead, its old dead leaves just hung onto that tree all winter long. But, not to worry! Because, in the Spring, when new life started to flow up within and through the trunk of the tree into all the branches and into every twig on the tree, the old dead leaves just fell off and were replaced with beautiful new buds and leaves! In exactly the same way, as we abide in Jesus, those old, hard-to-budge sins that we sometimes deal with as human beings, just like those old dried leaves on the oak tree, just fall away as the Holy Spirit flows into and through us and produces “the fruit of the Spirit.” (Gal. 5:22-23). And, I cannot think of a better way to deal with such things.
Therefore…
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Gal. 5:22-23 ESV)
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jer. 17:6-8 ESV)
“You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” (Matt. 7:16-20 ESV)
“Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Phil. 1:11 ESV)