Putting the flower gardens to sleep for the winter became a living lesson for me when rose bushes, dormant through the summer had to be removed.  I thought it would be an easy dig.  Wrong!  I was surprised at the depth of the feeder vine that supports the network of branches producing rose buds. 

As I continued digging, I remembered Jesus’s words, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. “  Digging deeper and deeper, there was time to ponder the mystery and principle of pruning and growing in a branch relationship with the vine.

I felt the enormity of my dependence on Jesus the Master vine.  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and me in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. “  

Memories of the pain of being pruned through seasons of my life brought tears. (He cuts off every branch that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes.)  Into the trash went the branches of my rose bushes that had died on the vine.

To be alive is to be attached to a master vine - Jesus, the true vine.  “If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 

To blossom and bear fruit is to thrive and to reflect the glory of God.  “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

John 15:1-8

Without Him I could do nothing,

Without Him I’d surely fail,

Without Him I would be drifting, like a ship without a sail.

Without Him I would be dying,

Without Him I’d be enslaved.

Without Him life would be worthless,

But with Jesus, thank God I’m saved

(Mylon LeFevre)