John 15:1
“I am a true sprouting vine, and the farmer who tends the vine is my Father.”
I remember 8 months ago there was this app called “HouseParty.” It was super popular in my circle of friends because we weren’t able to see each other in person anymore due to the lockdown. The thing that was great about this app was that it kept us all so connected. I think that I spent more time with my friends & family through that app at the beginning of quarantine than I had before things got shut down!!
I share this story with you because I learned something about “connection” this year and it has to do with this one passage in John 15. Jesus says this :
“I am a true sprouting vine, and the farmer who tends the vine is my Father.”
If Jesus is the true vine, that has to mean there are vines that we may find ourselves connecting to that are… false? Well, then what is a false vine, what does it look like?
A false vine is anything other than Jesus that we spend time with in hopes of finding satisfaction, purpose, and nourishment. If Jesus is the only true vine, it’s important to consider what we’ll miss out on if we try to connect to anything else.
This is a hard concept to grasp because it could easily sound like I’m saying “if you do anything else other than spending your time with Jesus, you’re doing it all wrong”.
I think that dedicating time to friends and family and working hard to accomplish great things in this life time can all be good and beneficial. However, if we are choosing those things more often than we are choosing Jesus, then that is where it can get dangerous.
False vines notoriously lie about what they can promise you, but you’ll always walk away empty handed. False vines cannot provide lasting spiritual nourishment. False vines cannot give you life. False vines cannot lead you into your purpose.
Only Jesus can do those things. Because He is the one and only true vine.
What are you connecting to in hopes of finding satisfaction, purpose, or nourishment? Take some time to reflect on this passage.
1 John 2:15-17
“Don’t set the affections of your heart on this world or in loving the things of the world. The love of the Father and the love of the world are incompatible. For all that the world can offer us—the gratification of our flesh, the allurement of the things of the world, and the obsession with status and importance—none of these things come from the Father but from the world. This world and its desires are in the process of passing away, but those who love to do the will of God live forever.”