“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 (New Living Translation)
There is the story of a newspaper reporter who went to interview a successful entrepreneur. "How did you do it?" he asked. "How did you make all this money?"
"I'm glad you asked," the entrepreneur replied. "Actually, it's a rather wonderful story. You see, when my wife and I married, we started out with a roof over our heads, some food in our pantry, and five cents between us. I took that nickel, went down to the grocery store, bought an apple, and shined it up. Then I sold it for ten cents."
"What did you do then?" the reporter asked.
"Well," he said, "then I bought two more apples, shined them up, and sold them for twenty cents." The reporter thought this would be a great human interest story.
"Then what?" the reporter asked excitedly.
"Then my mother-in-law died and left us $20 million," the businessman said. That man prospered, not because of his own ingenuity, but because he was connected.
We enjoy the wealth of God’s blessings because we are connected through Christ. Jesus uses the word picture of a vine and its branches to help people understand that our lives thrive on a relationship with him. Jesus Christ is the vigorous rootstock that brings life to the branches, that is, to those who follow Him and the church they form.
Jesus is the source of our power and life. We often try to live life without availing ourselves of life’s central source of power and purpose—Jesus Christ. When we try to live like that, we run out of gas.
The good news is that when Jesus has taken up residence in our hearts, we are empowered to live fruit-bearing lives. We will be out of gas. If we take steps to stay connected to Christ…if we let Jesus’ teaching, Jesus’ way of living, Jesus’ way of loving become our ways…we are able to thrive in life because we do not live on our own power, but on the power of the resurrected Christ!
We live in particularly challenging days. Our over-committed, over-extended, stressed out lives are sapping our energy and joy. I see it others and I see it in myself. You and I need the connection to Jesus that can only come when we are willing to let Jesus take up residence in our lives:
• Take up residence in our hearts by worshipping Him;
• Take residence in our hearts through prayer;
• Take up residence in our hearts by learning the scriptures;
• Take up residence in our hearts through fellowship and the sharing of mutual love together;
• Take up residence in our hearts through sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with others.
Our lives can thrive on Jesus because Jesus will give us the power to live in the way he has called us. We thrive on Jesus because apart from him we have no life . . . we fail to thrive.
