The Christian Obligation – Week 45 / November 3rd

by admin

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides
in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me
you can do nothing.”
John 15:5

John 15 constitutes a reminder of the fact that our life, well being, fruitfulness and joy as Christians comes from abiding in Christ. Christ is and should be everything to us and we should do all that we can to grow and strengthen our relationship with Him. This is the obligation of every faithful follower of Jesus. Apart from a living relationship with Him we can do nothing; and nothing means nothing! We can do religious things and even those that appear to be Christian but if they do not emanate from Him and by Him these will mean nothing and sadly many so called followers of Jesus are achieving just this; nothing. So, it behooves us to take a closer look at this well known passage of the Gospel of John.

1.    We learn something about God our Father (15:1-2)
Here in this first verse of the chapter we are told that the Father is “vinedresser.” This is a beautiful term and it rightly designates the love that God our Father has for His people. We like branches of a vine are subjected to His “dressing”; meaning that He cares for us and ultimately desires to beautify and improve us. He will thus prune us or cut as back in order that new growth may come forth and with it fruitfulness. This may be strange, difficult and unexpected but we must all be subject to it because it is for our good.

I have great Rose bushes in my garden but in the Spring I have to almost decimate them as I cut them back and prepare them for the summer months. Some casual observer may even think that I have done irreparable damage to the Rose bush by the pruning process but, sure enough, in the summer the tree brings forth new life and flowers that are truly a joy to behold. So it is with us; we must be trained by the pruning process so that we can truly shine for Christ.

2.    We learn something about ourselves (15:3-5)
Our calling is to maintain a living relationship with Jesus. This means essentially having His word built into our lives. Jesus says that we are branches of a vine in which He is the trunk of the tree imparting life, blessing, fruitfulness and joy to our lives. We keep our lives clean and open to His life by living in His word. The word of God expresses all that God in Christ wants us to be and we must have it built into our lives. (James 1:21) His life alone, made real to us by the Holy Spirit as we feast upon His word, transforms us into His image. The truth is, dead leaves fall off a vine because the sap coming from its trunk pushes them off. So we, as we abide in Christ, will find that His life will push the ungodly habits and actions of our lives away from us in a way that we will want it so. Blessed are a people who go through this experience. As a consequence we will bear much fruit and glorify God, who called us by Christ to Himself.

3.    We learn something about the fear of God (15:6)
Christians bearing no fruit are displeasing to God and, if they persist in their lawlessness, will be severed from the vine and cast away. Jesus reminds us in Matthew seven that, “It is not those who say Lord, Lord that will inherit the kingdom of God,” but those who will do the will of His Father. We are secure in Christ and nothing outside of us can sever us from Him but we ourselves have to want to follow Him and serve Him. Only those who endure to the end will be saved and so this “threat’ is real and should engender the fear of God in us; meaning that indeed we work out our salvation “with fear and trembling.” Indeed the modern church is lacking in both!

4.    We learn something about prayer (15:7-8)
This is a remarkable passage because it tells us that if we ask anything of God He will do it for us. So, too often it is quoted out of context and thus leading people to believe that because they are Christ followers they have been given a “blank cheque.” This is not true as the context reveals something quite different in that if we have a living relationship with God we will begin to understand His ways and boundaries and we will thus instinctively know what He permits and what is “off limits.” Our prayer lives must therefore be governed by our knowledge of Him and not by our carnal desires. When we know His boundaries we can begin to operate as He wants us to and consequently we bear much fruit and this glorifies God.

These then are our spiritual obligations and we must meet them all day and every day. Abide in the vine!

Malcolm Hedding

©Malcolm Hedding Ministries

2014Devotional