Backyard Lesson May 31, 2016

¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser."
John 15:1 ESV 

Yesterday I decided to trim some overgrown trees that hang over our fence.  As I was cutting back dead branches and unruly sprouts, I came across a large, mature vine.  This vine was not your usual little climbing ivy.  It had grown many feet through trees and bushes.  Its trunk was 2-3 inches in diameter.  Several if its tendrils were reaching from the neighbor's trees out to a tree in our yard.  As I was cutting back this monster, I was reminded of the time when Jesus used a vine to illustrate the relationship between God, Christians, and himself.  In the illustration, Jesus was the vine, God the vinedresser, and we were the branches.  As I tugged and pulled on the encroaching plant in the fence row, more vine thoughts came to me.

The vine had started off small, but continued to grow to the point where it almost completely engulfed one of the smaller trees.  It was hard to tell where one plant stopped and the other began.  Our lives should be just as intertwined with Christ.  If we allow the Holy Spirit to grow in our lives, it will become harder and harder to separate our thoughts, actions, and words from those of the Spirit.  When the world sees us, they will see Jesus.

This vine was also within inches from starting to join itself with a neighboring tree.  Had I not cut it back, it would have started to entwine with our cherry tree.  As Christians, the God's influence in our lives should be reaching out to others.  As we move through our day, Jesus' tendrils should emanate from our lives to touch those around us. 

Finally, as I tried to pull the vine from the tree tops, I was unable to separate the vine from the branches.  No matter how hard I pulled, there remained large parts of the vine still in the trees.  At one point I was swinging through the air in a Tarzan-like manner to no avail.  If we are truly entwined with the Vine, then it will be just as difficult for the world to strip God from our lives as it was to separate the trees and the rogue vine.

Allow the True Vine to grow in you.  Allow it to become intertwined with all you do.  Let it take over your live.