John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

John 15:6 “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”

Hello readers, thanks for reading my blog today. I hope you’ve had a good day today. I’ve attached a photo from January of this year. And I’ve titled this blog “why we must abide in the vine” because this is a good visual representation, or at least it was for me, of what Jesus was talking about in John 15.

What you’re looking at is not a vine, it’s a pear tree, and a “Josephine” pear tree at that. I work at a fruit orchard that grows pears as it’s primary crop, and the “Josie” pears are mainly used as pollinators to the main “Packham” variety.

So their main job is to pollinate the fruit the farmer really wants! as the bees go between the different pear varieties in Spring when the flowers are out. Once the flowers are finished, the tree then pushes out its leaves, and the tree is covered in green leaves whose job is to soak in the sun rays to provide energy for the plant to grow and size up the fruit… which they are doing here!

Hopefully, if you are saved, you’ve been soaking in some sun rays by reading the word of God. To have fruit you need the word of God and the moving power of the Holy Spirit flowing through your life.

But the reason I’ve uploaded this photo is because when I came along to this tree, I found this brown leaved, black stemmed shriveled up dead looking branch, although it’s more what’s called a “lateral shoot” that will become a main branch. It had started growing vigorously in the spring… but now look at it! Look how what I’m holding in my hand compares to the rest… what happened!?

When I came to this tree, my eyes were drawn to this dead stick in the tree. The first thing I did was I grabbed it and took the photo that you now see. But look how what I’m holding compares to the rest of the tree. Night and day difference huh? And it is the difference between death and life that you’re looking at. It doesn’t just look dead, this is a dead stick.

This lateral shoot, which would’ve ended up being a good branch on the tree in time, which would have and could have borne fruit… instead had become disconnected from the main trunk of the tree, and withered up and died. It lost it’s potential and it’s purpose, and it never fulfilled what it could have been… because somehow it got disconnected from the tree.

With that in mind, when Jesus says in the verses quoted above that he is the vine, and we are the branches, and we’ve gotta abide in him, this is the kind of image he is invoking, pear tree versus vine notwithstanding. We can look at this dead branch and learn a thing or two can’t we? Can we receive some instruction from the example of this dead stick?

It’s important to realize that this stick did not have life in and of itself. If it did, it wouldn’t be dead. It’s because the life originated and was contained elsewhere. We need to take note of that. In and of ourselves we have no life. In and of ourselves we are nothing, and our lives will amount to nothing. In and of ourselves we cannot bear fruit.

You’ve gotta realize that branches draw their life from the roots and stem of the tree, life which flows up to all the branches that are connected to it. That life is called “sap” and it’s like the “blood” of the tree. Branches must stay connected not some of the time… all the time. It never not needs the sap. We never not need the blood of Christ covering our sin. It never can go it alone. We can’t either. So why do we?

If the branches ever get disconnected… they instantly start to wither up and die. And it’s amazing how quick it happens, particularly in summer. Notice how the dead branch could not hide, and was unmistakable. And that’s how we are in a spiritual sense if we are not abiding in Christ. You are either in or out, you’re either connected or disconnected, you either are living or dead. The contrast is so stark. I hope you are abiding in Christ.

Please note, I do not believe according to the Bible that you can lose your salvation when you are saved. A dead stick is just proof you were never in. If you’re truly in Christ, yes you can get really bare, and maybe useless needing a good prune… but once you’re in, you’re in. But are you in?

As I’m writing this, the story of Elisha and the axehead also comes to mind from 2 Kings 6, because when the axehead came off the handle as it was being swung… it became disconnected from it’s usefulness and purpose. And think about how it lay at the bottom of the muddy Jordan, lost and in darkness, already starting to rust away. The axehead’s useless, hopeless, helpless, motionless plight was much like this branch not connected to the tree that withered up and died.

We really have to realize that our life does not come from us, we are not the power source, Christ is. Why do we “fly off the handle” so often? We’ve got to abide in Christ. Abiding doesn’t just carry with it the idea of being somewhere it also carries with the idea of staying somewhere. Once in the truth, remain in the truth!

Sadly, many people are not “in Christ”, and if that’s you, you’re just like this stick… you have no life, you’re a dead stick. And what do people do with dead sticks? They burn them. That’s what hell is. Please don’t be a dead stick.

Maybe you ask, how can I get “in Christ”? Here’s how. Believe “in Christ”. That is what gets you in Christ. Because when you believe in Christ, Christ saves you, and the Holy Spirit places you “in Christ” spiritually. No longer are you “in Adam” where all die, you are now “in Christ” where all live, as he lives, we live.

Yes it’s a pear tree, not a vine, but you’re basically looking at exactly what Jesus was saying. You are seeing visually just how vast a spiritual chasm there is between being saved and not being saved, between being in Christ and not being in Christ. Without me you can do nothing Jesus said. You reckon that disconnected branch realized without the tree it could do nothing? Well no, because it’s just a dead tree shoot… but hopefully we all get the point!

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