On my deck sits a potted strawberry plant that I bought my wife for her birthday. It was small but healthy-looking, and that helped with the decision to fork out $23 for it because it seemed that with enough care, including water and fertilizer, it would last the growing season and provide fresh strawberries off the vine. One day a nasty windstorm brewed up and knocked the bush from its patio hanger and onto the grass. A strawberry, not yet fully developed or ripened, snapped off and lay on the deck. It would not be long before the berry started to wither because it was no longer connected to the vine.
I’m next to certain that you’ve heard this Bible verse from John 15. It highlights the importance of, as believers in Jesus Christ, our ongoing connection to Him is imperative to prevent us from wasting away and thereby hindering the development of spiritual fruit in our lives, the way God intended.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” (John 15:5, 6 ESV)
When the strawberry detached from the plant and no longer received life-sustaining nutrients from the vine, I thought about how similar this is to our faith. Apart from God, apart from nurturing our relationship with Him or spending time in the Word and in prayer, we are prone to shrivelling up, and according to the Bible, when under our own strength, we can do nothing.
We must stay connected to Jesus, the true vine who is our source of spiritual nourishment and well-being. And like a vine that provides sustenance to its branches, or in the case of a strawberry plant, our lives won’t bear fruit to be used by God to not only bless ourselves but also to bless others with changed lives—thereby furthering God’s kingdom in the process.
If you backtrack in John 15 and read verses 1 and 2, Jesus tells us basically the same thing, but He uses slightly different wording than in verses 5 and 6.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does not bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
There are times when I’ve not fostered my relationship with Jesus, and because I’ve floundered, I feel disconnected from the spiritual vine of my Heavenly Father. From experience, being cut off from the vine is not a fun place to be, and I don’t vouch for it in any way.
As I write these words, there are loads of strawberries on my wife’s strawberry plant, some red and others green, but still maturing to their full delicious potential. That’s because each berry has profited from water, fertilizer, heat, and good soil. And most importantly, they maintain their connection to the vine. For us to bear fruit in our lives, we need to be fully dependent on Jesus and remain fused to Him every day.
Apart from Him, we truly can do nothing.
Paul Smyth
