Day 8 – I Am the True Vine

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing” John 15:1-5

Since creation God, our Father is the eternal gardener constantly sowing, watering and pruning those connected to the vine that is Jesus. Vines are a common Old Testament symbol for God’s people and by making this statement, Jesus explains the benefits of remaining in Him: to bear fruit!

“He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with the best vines. In the middle, he built a watchtower and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks. Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes that grew were bitter.” Isaiah 5:2

All the scholars of the time would instinctively knew Jesus was making the comparison between Himself and the scriptures concerning vines. The language of the unfruitful branches is tied to Israel as the desolate vineyard producing bitter fruit. But Jesus states that through Him – the true vine – the people of God will have new life and bare much fruit by abiding in Him. He fulfills the destiny Israel never could and is the Vine through whom we can submit to the Gardener while flourishing in a fruitful life.

I know too, that sometimes we need a little pruning ourselves. But through these seasons of pruning, we should always remember that it is for our own good to bear much fruit for our Father.

Prayer: Father, thank You that we can abide in the true Vine who is Jesus to bare fruit for Your Kingdom. Please prune me where necessary so I am a fruitful branch connected to the Vine. May our fruit be sweet to Your tasting and not bitter. Thank You Jesus that the fruit from Your life is the blood You generously gave for our forgiveness. Amen. 

Intercessor Prayer at prayer@womenoftheword.co.za

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