John: I AM...The Vine

 I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vine grower.  

John 15:1 [NAS]

I love to garden – especially flowers.  Daisies, petunias, pansies, hydrangeas, roses, geraniums – I try to fill my landscape with flower beds, large containers of flowers, and the occasional flowering bush.  I used to grow lots of vegetables in Arizona, but have had neither the land nor the courage to try it here.  I appear to have a bit of a green thumb when it comes to flowers, so I stick with what I know.

My first home in Chesterfield County had a huge honeysuckle vine growing along the chain-link fence.  It was obvious that no one had spent much time pruning or shaping it, so it grew rather wild – completely intertwined in the wire of the fence.  A small rose bush in front of the vine didn’t have a chance – the vine covered the bush and the trees, and anything else that was climbable.  When I would get sick of the tangles, I would snip a couple of places and go my way.  The next day, the severed branches would be dead, and I could clean things up a bit.  It always amazed me how quickly the branches died when when they were cut off from the main stalk.

Jesus used the vine analogy to help us understand the beauty of connectivity.  He is the rooted vine stalk, storing nourishment and grace in His roots and lovingly tended by the Father.  We, His children, are the branches - connected to the Vine through heart and soul, gathering sustenance and strength to live our everyday lives for and through Him.  If anything or anyone severs our connection, our spiritual growth withers away.  The vigor of our Christian life is dependent upon our relationship with our Savior.

Chief of sinners though I be,

Jesus shed His blood for me.

Died that I might live on high,

Died that I might never die.

As the branch is to the vine,

I am His, and He is mine.