In 2018, I added a small Lady Banks Rose Bush to my garden with the hopes of seeing it, one day, cover the top of my fence! Through the years since, I have cut off new shoots that seemed to be going nowhere and trained others to grow resting on the fence. A couple of years ago, I pruned it back causing the following blooming season to be a bit stunted. However, this past blooming season, it more than made up for the previous and I was wowed by the beautiful, yellow buds covering the branches. It truly was a stunning sight to behold.

Our Heavenly Father is shaping a garden. He lovingly and tenderly examines the lush and magnificent fruit. As the Gardener, He decides what to plant, when to “lift up” and how to train. In His splendid garden the central figure is the True Vine, our beautiful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And those who have trusted in the finished work of Christ on the Cross (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; John 3:16) have become shoots branching from The Vine. New life pulses through each branch (2 Corinthians 5:17). And with this new life we are called to be fruitful and prove we are His disciples (John 15:1-8).

A strong warning is also given: “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5c). Fruit comes only because one is attached to the Vine. The Gardener’s one desire is to see fruit which, if present, will bring Him glory. The key to bringing glory to our Gardener is abiding in the Vine (Jesus Christ). When we abide (dwell and fellowship in Jesus), our branch remains tender and flexible allowing The Gardener to masterfully train and lift up for the greatest and most spectacular presentation of fruit to wow a watching world.

In Him is where we find sustaining sustenance that yields a harvest proving we are His disciples.

Abide in the Vine!

“Remain in me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.”

John 15:4

How is your branch looking these days?