Pocket Thoughts - 6/28/26
What is “the good life?” It’s a life of faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ. Unbelieving folks may scoff at or mock this idea, but believers know abiding in Christ brings a peace of heart and mind impossible to explain to a worldly thinker. That peace results in a productive, meaningful life expended in loving and serving others. Jesus used the analogy of a grapevine to describe the dynamic of His followers drawing strength and finding purpose by staying connected to Him. These words were spoken during the final hours of His life as He and His disciples ate the Passover meal. Jesus described Himself as the vine, God the Father as the gardener, and people who claim to follow Him as the branches. The gardener inspects the grapevine and carefully examines each branch. Branches that are producing fruit are cut back so that they can become even more fruitful. Branches not bearing fruit are cut off and thrown into the fire. The gardener dares not risk unfruitful branches infecting the healthy branches so for the good of the plant, He removes them. The remaining branches, nourished by the life of the vine, then flourish and grow, producing lush, juicy, sweet grapes. Jesus told His disciples, “If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) And what is the business we’re to be about as we remain in Him? “Love each other as I have loved you.” We “remain in Him” by walking out the instructions He gives us in His Word and by spending time in prayer. “Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in (Jesus’) name.” The occasional pruning, perhaps painful in the moment, will yield a beautiful, rich crop to the glory of God.
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Father, there is no peace like the peace that comes from abiding in Your presence. There is no more sacred pain than the pain that comes from the pruning shears of the Master Gardener. We, the branches, entrust ourselves to Your all-knowing eyes. Search out the things in our lives that would produce withered, rotten fruit. Trim away the blight, the poison, the toxins. Preserve and nurture only what will produce life and flourishing. Thank You for the privilege of abiding in the vine. Thank You for the opportunity to provide respite in the shade of Your grace – what an honor. Thank You for the pruning process that prepares us for holy lives that glorify You. Help us to faithfully abide in Jesus. He is our peace and our vine, and we pray in His beautiful Name, amen.
