Staying Connected to JesusSample

Receiving what Jesus gives

‘You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me’ (John 15:3-4)

When Jesus tells this story, He has just eaten the Passover meal with His disciples. This meal was part of the annual celebration of Israel's deliverance from Egypt (Exodus 12). During this meal, four cups of wine were passed around. Each cup symbolized how God was Israel's Savior. Drinking together from the same cup also symbolized the bond between the participants during a meal. How beautifully Jesus connects this to His teaching about the Vine and the branches.

Even after Jesus' return to His Father, this bond between Jesus and the disciples will not be broken. But Jesus' followers must then be willing to receive what they need. That way they remain in Jesus and Jesus in them. The disciples believe in Jesus as the Son of God. That makes them ‘clean’. They are already branches that could bear fruit. But apart from Jesus, their spiritual life will lose strength and dry up.

Just as a branch depends on the nourishment flowing from the vine, so followers of Jesus must depend on Him for their growth. And so believers receive the strength to live in such a way that they increasingly show what it means to be connected to Jesus.

Can you specifically name different fruit that has begun to grow in your life because of Jesus' influence? Thank Him for what He has done.