Christ the Vine
Making plans with Jesus
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I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:5 (ESV)
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Jesus speaking here; a classic verse.
I want to focus in on the word “abide” here.
Other translations will choose “remain” but I don’t think that gives the same idea. There’s so much more relational activity when it comes to abiding than simply remaining. Abiding feels more active, more intentional, to me.
Jesus is our source of life & spiritual nourishment.
The imagery here of a grape branch attached to the vine is easy to see.
The clusters of ripe fruit can only happen if the branches get their nourishment from the vine. All the water and nutrition flows from the vine to the branches. Without the vine, they wither and die.
No fruit for the broken branches.
Which is part of the picture Jesus gives here of the branches that are apart from the vine. They physically cannot bear good fruit.
They don’t have the necessary ingredients to make that happen.
I think we can understand that, but when it comes to our day to day lives, how well do we live it out?
In other words:
How much good work do I try to do without God and then hope God blesses it?
To my shame, too much.
Instead of making plans for Jesus and asking for His blessing, I’d be better of making plans with Jesus.
That way, His blessing is implied, because He was a part of the process.
For me, that starts with more prayer, more time with God, and more time in His Word.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2025 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
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