The Source of Life

The bananas on my shelf have begun to go bad. They are covered in splotches of browns and black. A week of decomposition has begun to take place since they left the store, but is that true? No, the decomposition has begun since the moment they were picked away from the banana tree. When I was little, I would never eat a banana if it had started to go bad. Not wanting to waste the bananas, my parents would tell me how the bananas had more sugar in them if they had patches of black on them. Thrilled, I munched through as many of those bananas as I could! I noticed they didn't taste that bad, just a little mushy.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 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. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

The truth is the bananas weren't full of sugar, they had begun to rot. When the banana is stripped apart the contents inside are sludge and molded. Although it is edible, it is not necessarily the most delicious. I find that as a Christian it is extremely easy to experience decay like fruit. We separate ourselves from the vine of life. At first life seems okay, but slowly we become consumed by our surroundings. We gain little splotches of sin that consume us, but they are just little bits right? As we continue to live in this manner the darkness spreads throughout our life and consumes all things that were once full of taste. We are no longer delicious and pleasurable to the King of Kings.

Here is the good news: Jesus, the vine, wants us to be a part of his crop. He is the source of life and supplies endless amounts of life. All things flow through and from him. He imparts the Spirit into our life that restores those blotches and obliterates all impurity from our mind and soul. He is the gardener and we are his crop. So, be encouraged. He desires to give us complete life and strength. We will not walk through this life ridden with guilt or shame, but we will be set free to true, abundant life in him. He simply asks us to remain in him and gain life to the fullest. Today, let's take a look at our lives and ask how we can remain in him. Let's ask how we can remain fully alive in him. Christ desires our heart and mind, and we are renewed through his restoring grace.