A Lesson In A Vineyard

     There’s a vineyard a short drive from our home.  It has a restaurant, a gift shop, and walking trails among the vines.  My wife, Joanna, and I go there occasionally for lunch, and I always feel close to the early Christians as I stroll among the vines because vineyards were so important to them.

     Recently, we ate lunch there and, later, as I walked and prayed among the vines, I thought about Jesus’s teaching in which He said, “I’m the vine, and you’re the branches.  Whoever remains in Me, and I in him or her, will have much fruitful motivation because, without Me, you can do nothing.”[1.  Adapted from John 15:5.]

     This profound motivational teaching illustrates the Spiritual relationship between the “vine” (Jesus), the “branches” (Christians), and the “fruit” (supernatural love, joy, peace, patience, etc.) that God produces in us – if we allow the inner Holy Spirit to motivate us.[2.  Adapted from Galatians 5:22-23.]

     In other words, Christians are connected to Jesus by the indwelling Holy Spirit within them and, to the extent that they allow the indwelling Holy Spirit to motivate them, Christians can have supernatural love, healing, peace, joy, and miracles in their lives.

     But, Jesus’s teaching also contains the tragic words, “Without Me, you can do nothing.”  That means that unless Christians are being motivated by the Holy Spirit, they can’t experience God’s supernatural peace, hope, and purpose.

     This probably explains why so many Christians are so unspiritual today.  National polls show that today’s average Christian is no more Spiritual than a non-Christian.  And that’s because many Christians don’t know how to be motivated by the Holy Spirit.  Just like non-Christians, they’re in the habit of letting their selfish human natures motivate them during the day.

     Jesus was crystal clear in His Vineyard Lesson:  If we want to be fruitful “branches” as Christians, there’s only one way to do it:  We must release more of the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit within us.  That’s what the early Christians did.  And that’s what we Christians need to do, too.

     Joanna and I pray daily to be more fully motivated by the Spirit (to be more Spirit-filled, more often) – and we pray that you and yours will be more fully motivated, too.