First Baptist Idabel

click to enlarge

Connected to the Vine

          When I was a kid there were a couple of apple trees in my papaw’s garden. I can remember when those apples would start to ripen. I and the other kids who lived in the neighborhood would eat until we literally got a stomach ache. Most of the branches would produce an abundance of fruit, but yet there were those branches that seemed to just dry up and die. My papaw would take a chainsaw and cut off the branches that did not produce fruit and burn them.

          The other day I was thinking about those apple trees. I was reminded of John 15 were Jesus said He was the true vine and His Father was the vinedresser. Jesus calls His disciples the branches, and His desire for the branches is to bear fruit. Some branches may bear more fruit than others, but the main thing is to bear fruit. The reason we are to bear fruit is so we can bring glory to God. Think about that for a minute, God has chosen to use you to bring glory to Him. In order to bring glory to God we have to be plugged into the Vine, connected to Jesus.

Scriptures for Application

John 15:1-11 How can we bear fruit for God? (5) Are you abiding in Jesus, abide means to take up residence.

Action