Vazquez Counseling

In John 15:1-8, our LORD Jesus said:

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” (New King James Version)

Jesus Christ came the first time to bring salvation to all people whom God has called into His service. In these verses, Jesus spoke about what His true disciples would look like. He spoke symbolically in agricultural terms because His hearers would connect with His analogy.

Jesus indicates in this passage that in order to bear true fruit, we need to abide in Him. That means that Christians need to be “in Christ.” Think of it as being clothed with Jesus. The wonderful promise by Jesus is that if Christians live their lives with Him at the forefront of their minds, fully dedicated to Him, they will bear much fruit.

What does it mean, however, when Jesus said that apart from Him, we can do nothing? Some non-believers seem to do quite a bit, even engaging in altruistic activities, like spending their time helping others. The LORD indicates that if someone is not in Him, no matter what that person does, it ultimately does not matter. Anything that people do without the intention of serving God, while those activities may appear good, they will not advance the Kingdom of God. Christ wants all Christians to glorify God, in our work, in our time with our family, in our time with our Friends, really whatever we do. In Christianity, we do not give of our time, efforts, or money to the Church as some kind of altruistic or charitable activity, to feel like we have done our part or feel good about ourselves, We do these things because we love God, and we want to serve Him and His people. It should not only be the Church that we serve, but we should serve in every area of our lives.

Christ wants everything that Christians do to matter for His Kingdom. If you are in Christ, you will recognize what He is calling you to do. The wonderful thing about God is that he or she whom He calls, He also equips. What I’ve noticed in my Christian walk is that God calls us to do things that we enjoy because He is a loving God. Our LORD wants us to enjoy serving Him, knowing that having enjoyment in life also glorifies Him.

Being in Christ is not burdensome. Doing the work of God, while challenging at times, should not be a drudgery. Many Christians I know love their work because they do it as unto the LORD, and they know in their hearts that He is blessed by what they do, and because Jesus loves us, He blesses us, too.