My part as a tree branch

If a branch from a pear tree was grafted to a peach tree, it would still produce pears. If an apple branch was grafted to an apricot, the rest of the tree would bear apricots, but that branch would only produce apples.

Not being a horticulturist, I’m not sure about the success of any of these grafts, but I do know that just because a branch can draw sap from the main tree, that does not mean its character will change. An apple or pear branch will not become or produce anything else but apples or a pears.

Not so with God’s branches. When He grabs hold of a person and grafts them into Himself, He first gives that person His life. That is, the branch takes on the nature of the main tree. More than drawing sustenance, Christians are given the very life of Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Yet that new life is a very dependent life. I am a new creation, but still need to rely on the main tree as my source. I think about this every day, particularly this year as my verse for the year is the one in today’s devotional reading.

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)

This verse is not about being grafted in; that has already happened. It is about bearing fruit, about producing that which can only come from the vine. However, the odd part about this type of grafting is that the branch that has the life of Christ is able to produce fruit from that life but also from the former life that it had before it was given God’s life. This becomes a challenge as well as a command to stick close to the vine and draw life from Him.

Jesus says that without Him I can do nothing. Most of the time this is taken to mean that He is speaking in eternal terms. In other words, whatever I do apart from Him has no eternal value. However, my understanding of the sovereignty of God goes so far as to say apart from Him, I could not draw another breath. He is in total charge. No matter what I do, it is because He either permits it or promotes it.

For me, sometimes I struggle figuring out which is which. Two options may present themselves. Neither seems evil. I want to do one but not the other. Is it God pointing me in that direction so that I might bear fruit, or do I just want to go there for personal reasons?

Knowing that isn’t as important as knowing that whatever choice is made, in that choice I am responsible for abiding in Him, staying close and obeying Him. He wants me filled with His Spirit and trusting Him no matter what I am doing.