Remain in Him

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in me he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned."  John 15: 4a, 5-6

I discovered the truth about this verse firsthand.  I had this beautiful potted shrub that I had somehow managed to keep alive for over a year.  (I have a black thumb..)  When I got home from vacation, I saw the poor thing dried up and brown...crunchy, really.  No life left. I had forgotten to ask my friend to water it.  My stomach sunk because this was a special gift I had received after my grandma died.  So, I decided to give it a last chance at life and cut all of the dead stuff off...which was everything.  It was left with a few pathetic stubs.  So I watered it.  Seems silly to water these little stubs, but within a day or two a vibrant green leaf had sprouted!  And every day, it's getting healthier!

This is a perfect illustration for our hearts.  Are you feeling dry, and thirsty? Kinda dead and ugly inside?  We have all been there.  The next question is where have you been drawing your "water" or energy from?  The world?  Yourself?  Or the Lord?  In John 15 he promises that IF (IF...) we remain in Him, and His love, and His Word, he WILL remain in us, and will never leave us. He promises we will produce fruit.   But without being closely tied to our Father, our life source, we are sure to end up weary and fruitless. 

If you allow Him the control of being your "gardener", of pruning off the "dead" fruitless junk in your life, He is SURE to replace it with something better!

Have you EVER been able to keep a dozen fresh cut roses alive? Not more than a few days.  Once they've been cut from their life source, they are sure to shrivel, dry out, lose their vibrant color and sweet scent, and be thrown into the trash.  But if those same roses stay attached to the "vine" from where they grew, they can last season after season.