Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Balance”
Our Bible verse for today: “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.” John 15:5 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Jesus is the root who produces the fruit.”
John 14:31 ends with Jesus leading His little band of followers out of the Upper Room, having just concluded The Last Supper. As near as we can tell, the account we read about in John 15:5 occurred as they were then walking on the outskirts of Jerusalem towards the Garden of Gethsemane.
If so, then imagine the scene: it is night, it is dark, the air is cool and the moon is full. On their left are the walls of Jerusalem. On the right are vineyards. To teach an important spiritual truth, Jesus uses the example of a grapevine. He draws their attention to the branches which grow off of the vine and to the fruit that comes from the branches. He tells them, “Spiritually I am the vine and you are the branches. Just as the life of this vine flows in the branches and produces its fruit through the branches, so too My life will flow through you and My fruit will be produced through your life. However, just as this branch must stay attached to the vine in order to bear its fruit, so too you must stay attached to Me in order for My life to flow through you, and for My fruit to be produced in your life.”
This parable helps us to understand that the single most important thing we can do to make sure we have a healthy, fruitful, and balanced life is to nurture our relationship with Jesus. Nothing you can do will produce better fruit in your life. Working longer and harder at your job won’t do it. Earning more money, buying a bigger house, driving a newer car, wearing nicer clothes, getting a different hair do, none of that will do it.
There is nothing a person can do that will have a more positive impact on life than to be in a healthy relationship with Jesus. Richard Foster once wrote,
“The person who concentrates on the root system of his life is going to bear fruit upward, but if he concentrates on the eye-appealing foliage he many end up a rootless failure.”
As we near the end of our study on the theme of balance, I encourage you to focus on the health of your relationship with the Lord. Get that right and everything else will be okay.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 