Finding I AmНамуна

Jesus is the True Vine.

In essence, what Jesus is saying in this I AM passage is—I am doing what you could not do. I am the true Vine. Israel, you were supposed to be the vine, but you couldn’t do it. So, I AM is coming and saying that He is about to step in and fulfill what you could not do. 

We are in that same boat, my friend. We cannot do what God has called us to do without Him. We are unable to be faithful to His commands. We have failed over and over just like the Israelites failed time and time again. The Jewish people hearing Jesus that day needed Him to step in as the true Vine. And we need Him to do that for us as well. 

Do you feel that in your life? That sense that you are not enough? It sits deep in our souls most days. Buried down deep where we try to keep it hidden. We want so much to be enough. To be what God wants us to be. I know we try so hard. But the cloud still looms and tells us we are simply not enough. 

Today, I want you to do something that might seem counterintuitive at first—embrace that truth instead of trying to cover it up. Step in it for a minute with me; you are not alone. 

Might this longing be the very thing that helps you stay most deeply connected to the Vine and therefore be the catalyst to you producing rich fruit in your life? And then imagine the people that would so deeply be blessed by your fruit. 

Here’s what I want to take your hand and whisper to you today. Free yourself from trying to be the true vine. You are not it. That’s what Jesus does for us.

We run at a breakneck pace to try and achieve what God simply wants us to slow down enough to receive. We receive from Him everything we need to produce the fruit, therefore we must remember to stay connected to Him. 

Notice how Jesus requests that we remain. Jesus doesn’t participate in the rat race. He’s into the slower rhythms of life, like abiding, delighting, and dwelling—all words that require us to trust Him with our place and our pace. 

Let Him be the true Vine today. Rest in and thank Him for being the true Vine that we desperately need. 

To read more of Finding I Am, visit LifeWay.com/FindingIAm . There you'll also find teaching videos and other resources from Lysa TerKeurst.