John 15:1  I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

The Great Vine in the Hampton Court Palace Garden outside of London is the oldest and largest grapevine in the world. More than 250 years old, it measures 12 feet around its base, and its longest branch is 120 feet long. Every year, the Great Vine produces about 600 pounds of grapes. Christ is the true vine.

How do we - the branches- connect to Christ our Vine? I mean, a branch doesn't just walk up to a vine, strike up a conversation, and ask, "Do you mind if I connect to you?" Of course, that doesn't happen. That's the whole point of these words: "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide" (John 15:16). When you were baptized, Christ chose you. You are now connected to the Vine.

Connected to the Vine, we abide in the Vine. "Abide" appears often in this section of John 15:1-16. Do you think Jesus is trying to make a point? How do we abide in Christ? "If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples" (John 8:31). Christ's Word shows us that apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). How Word all the more shows that through His suffering and death He does everything for us and for our salvation.
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