John 15:5

“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.”

The clock starts ticking as soon as you remove the flower from the plant. The floral shop puts the stem in water, refrigerates it, and when we receive it, we add the special preservative/plant food from the little package…but the flower’s destiny is still the same. They will be pretty when they first arrive, but because they no longer abide in the vine or stem from which they were taken, it will only be a matter of days before they lose their luster, shrivel up, and are thrown out.

The same is true for us.

John 15 begins with a powerful analogy that should stick with every Believer. Jesus is the vine and we—his disciples—are the branches. God the Father is the vinedresser, or gardener. If any branch does not bear fruit, God removes it. If a branch is productive, he prunes it so that it can become even more productive. Either way, God is always at work tending his “garden.” The question for each one of us, then, is this: What kind of attention is your branch getting?

James Boice was a prolific author and pastored a vibrant inner-city church in Philadelphia from 1968 until his death in 2000. He certainly understood the power of abiding in Christ. He wrote that, “When our Lord says: Abide in me he is talking about the will, about the choices, the decisions we make. We must decide to do things which expose ourselves to him and keep ourselves in contact with him. This is what it means to abide in him.” What are you doing to expose yourself to your Savior, and how often are you doing it? We can “abide in Him” by reading his word, spending time in prayer, being in fellowship with other Believers, attending a bible study, going to church, and listening to worship music and/or good Christian teaching.

If your abiding is active, it does not shelter you from trouble or challenges. In fact, it may result in some! Sometimes, that is how God prunes us, by allowing tribulation. Other times, it may be his chastisement regarding sin in your life (Heb. 12:6). Either way, the Gardner is lovingly attending the garden and for that you should be thankful! If you choose not to abide in Christ, what you can expect is…nothing. No eternal fruit. No eternal impact. No Kingdom productivity. Thankfully, your life does not have to stay that way. Re-attach yourself to the Vine and the fruit will come again…maybe not overnight, but it will be back.