When Christ Shares His Heart

"I am the vine, you are the branches..." John 15:5

I've been pondering this whole concept of me being a branch and Jesus being a vine, and since I have, it's become less of a mere concept and more a reality for me. Since no word that came out of Jesus' mouth is irrelevant, it's worth pondering...

He never spoke useless words. He means much by even just the few words I shared above. Let me share some of my most recent thoughts with you. I think they are thoughts from the very throne of heaven. If you read on, you'll see why. Let´s look at those words again:

"I am the vine, you are the branches..." John 15:5

Jesus interrupts His whole talk about abiding and fruitfulness (read John 15) to remind His disciples that He is the Vine, and we are the branches. He is the source of life that we abide in. If we talk about abiding and forget we are abiding in a Person, we miss the point.

The point of John 15, though mentioned a lot, is not abiding... it´s Christ, the One we abide in. 

That could be said of the whole Bible. The point is not an action we do, it´s a person. He´s not speaking about some abstract idea that we need to grasp merely with our mind and act out with our body. He´s talking about Himself, who we need to know like an intimate friend.

He uses words like ¨I¨, ¨Me¨, and ¨My¨ throughout the whole chapter:

¨Abide in Me¨
¨I am the Vine¨
¨You are My disciples¨
¨The Father has loved Me¨
¨The world hated Me before it hated you¨
¨You are My friends¨

Those are just some of the examples...

It is as though Jesus is pouring out His heart to His disciples and sharing some very personal things with them, inviting them to come near. 

It´s ironic that the disciple that recorded much of what Jesus said in the days leading up to His death was John, who called himself the disciple Jesus loved. Could it be that John sensed something was about to change and was paying close attention to Jesus as He shared His heart?

He had gotten so close to Jesus, that unlike most of us, he was confident that Jesus loved him, and so much so that he didn´t even call himself John, but instead, ¨the disciple Jesus loved.¨

What about you? Is your focus on doing things for Christ? Or is it on Christ Himself? Do you know that if your focus is on Christ, the love of Christ will bubble over into actions that honor Him? Start there, dear beloved Christian.... in the presence of Him who loves you.

Lord Jesus, my focus has often slipped away from You to Your word and to actions that I can do for You... But I have forgotten that You are a person and You long for intimacy with me, Your beloved. How can I say no to that? You indeed are the Vine... I´m just a branch. It´s not abiding I should focus on... it´s You. Yet even in that I find I cannot. Oh, Spirit of God, empower me to do so! I choose to look, knowing that the power is already supplied, for whatever You command, You empower. Praise you... Amen.