Abide in Me, and I in you

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” - John 15v4

Jesus was the Master Teacher. At the end of chapter fourteen he said, “let us go from here,” so we get the impression at least that He and the disciples were walking along as chapter 15 opens. All of a sudden He teaches uses grapevines as an illustration. I can see them walking past some grape vines when Jesus stopped and said, “I am the vine, My Father is the vinedresser, and you are the branches. Your job as the branches is to bear the fruit.”

I love this picture. Sometimes we can get the idea that somehow it is just us, out on our own, trying to do God’s work. Sometimes it feels hopeless and we feel helpless. Yet here we have a great picture of what it is really all about. We do not serve alone, we do not serve in our own power, and we are not in this alone. We abide in Christ as He abides in us. He supplies and nourishes us to bear fruit as we depend on Him. He has chosen to give us the fruit bearing job. Does the fruit we bear evidence us abiding in Him and Him abiding in us?