LOOK CAREFULLY AT THE LIMB IN THIS PICTURE

I’m looking through a window in my home right now at a tree. Look up in the top left corner of the picture at the large limb that is not connected to the trunk. It is just propped up by the other branches and looks exactly like them. But there’s one huge difference. The other branches are alive. This branch is both dead and dangerous. It is going to fall at some time, and my precious grandchildren play around this almost every time they come over.

What does Jesus say about a branch that has been disconnected from the vine (or the trunk)? Jesus is speaking in John 15 and calls Himself the vine (or the trunk) and God the gardener. He says that God “cuts off every branch that doesn’t produce fruit.” Then He says, “Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it’s severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in Me.”

Jesus goes on to say that if someone is disconnected from the trunk like the branch in this picture, they can’t do anything. They are a fake and a fraud. They go to church and hang out with all the other branches that are connected to the trunk, but they are not. Actually, what Jesus says is very blunt. John 15:5-6 says, “For apart from Me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in Me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.”

The branch in this picture may look like the other branches, but it is dead. When a strong wind comes, it’s going to fall from that tree and crash. That branch is dead, deceived, and dangerous. What about the other branches, the ones that are connected to the trunk?

Jesus spoke of those branches as well. John 15:7-9 says, “But if you remain in Me and I remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are My true disciples. This brings great glory to the Father.”

I want to be connected to Jesus. I want to “remain.” I want to “abide.” I do not ever want to do the things the other branches are doing, and hear the sermons the other branches are hearing, and sing the songs the other branches are singing, and not be connected to the vine. O Jesus, every breath I breathe I breathe in conscious dependence on You. Apart from You, I can do nothing.