09/15/2022
They need to live their lives in a way that will make others want to meet The Gardener.
He says in the first two lines of John 15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
A few things to notice here: When he says I am the TRUE vine, he’s warning them that there are false vines out there. There are things that look like the path to salvation, but they may not actually produce any fruit.
Second, he says his Father is the gardener. And the gardener cuts off anything not producing fruit. What is the fruit? The Fruit of The Spirt, of course. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Self Control. If something in your life is preventing you from producing that fruit, it has to go. Who cuts it out? God does.
If you are producing that fruit, through the help of The Gardener, what impact will that have on the people you interact with? They will be attracted to the fruit of your spirit, and they will want to meet your gardener, too. It’s really not unlike the way that my neighbors want to meet my husband when they see his lawn. They want to know what he did to get that kind of grass. Your neighbors will want to know what you did to get that kind of joy, or peace, or love.
The false vines of the world will try to choke out the light. But you know where to find the true light. Shine it on your students, their families, your community. Rely on God to prune your life of gossip, anxiety, anger, jealousy, fear, etc. Be so full of joy and peace that when the stress of life squeezes you, you pour that out on the people you know.
Praying for each of you this week.
Source: thesimpleclassroom.com
