You may have seen the movie “Walking on the Clouds,” where there is a vine-dresser scene of “Stay! Stay with me.” A vineyard owner came from Mexico and invested everything he had, everything he owned, to acquire a vineyard. He and the original owner went outside, and the old vine dresser looked at the new owner and asked, “What do you see?” He replied, “I see a lot of work, many vines, and a lot of grapes.”
The old owner took the young man to an iron fence, and he said that he could really only see one vine. All the growth—all the fruit—came from that one root, planted long ago. If that root dies, the vineyard dies too. Everything the family owned was in that one root, that one vine. God, who loves you more than anything else, invested everything he had and came himself, in the flesh, and his name is Jesus. Jesus is the vine. Jesus is God’s complete and total investment.
Everything, every bit of fruit we have, depends on this vine. We were created by God to know Him and to be connected through Jesus. We are not alone. Someone shares our lives. Someone is there for us, just as we are all there for each other. If we abide in Christ, it means that we have a close, daily relationship with Him. This is how we become a branch of the vine called Christianity. A branch that bears fruit. Our desires will be His desires if we pray according to His words, and He is connected to us through prayer.
Being connected means that we will live a productive life. The vine and its fruit point to the nutrients that nourish the branches to bear abundant fruit. The relationship between the vine and the branches is the love between God and Jesus and between Jesus and us. In other words, we are to love one another as Christ loved us. If a branch is not attached to the vine, it withers and dies. The very life of the branch depends on its attachment to the vine. The same thing will happen if we try to function in this life without Jesus. There is one plague that attacks the branches of the vine, and if it is not dealt with severely, it will destroy its fruitfulness. That plague is sin. Sin blocks the free flow of the sap of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Branches cannot bear fruit apart from the vine. The basic requirement of a Christian is that he be connected to Jesus. We, as branches, are completely dependent on the vine, Jesus. All we have to do is let the sap of the vine flow freely through us. “Compatibility” is a term that, thanks to the widespread use of computers and mobile phones, is becoming an increasingly common word in our everyday vocabulary. Compatibility refers to a state in which two things can exist or occur together without problems or conflicts. It is the ability of two systems to work together without modification.
For example, a computer running Windows 98, an older version, will not be able to support many of the latest programs and software. This is because of the “compatibility” problem. For example, an older Nokia 1100 mobile phone without Android will not be able to run many new applications, such as WhatsApp or Viber. This is because of the “compatibility” problem. This compatibility problem can also appear in our spiritual life.
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When we are not in the right relationship with God, we cannot understand many of his plans for us. When we are not in harmony with God’s will, we lose the possibility of understanding many of his desires for us. Let us stay connected to Jesus so that we can bear fruit that will last forever. Let us ask for a constant connection with Jesus, in Jesus and in Jesus. Here and forever!
