February 26
How the Saviour Leads His Children
“So shall ye be my disciples.” —John 15:8
Read John 15:1-11
The Lord Jesus gives a beautiful image of the church in our Scripture reading. His people are attached to Him as a branch is to the vine. It is a beautiful sight when the vine blooms and bears bountiful bunches of grapes. But there are also branches which do not flourish; they look rather dead and wooden and do not bear fruit. When the gardener sees such branches, he cuts them off and throws them on a pile to be burned. These are dead branches which live in the vicinity of the Lord and His Word but never come to life.
In human terms, these branches continue to live a sinful lifestyle and do not care about the Lord. They are close to the truth; they are baptized, attend church, Bible studies and catechism classes. But although they fulfill some religious duties, they are dead. This miserable behaviour is tragic; they are so close to the Kingdom of Heaven and yet remain outside of it. Some will honestly admit that they are unconverted and cater to the thought that they are helpless to do anything about it. Let us not follow their example.
But there are also other branches which depend on the vine’s life-giving sap to live and grow. They know the inner working of the Holy Spirit and continually seek the Lord’s guidance. They realize that they are undeserving, but continue to pray. They are fed daily, even though they don’t always feel it. The vine pumps its sap into the branches, not the other way around. In spiritual terms, the Vine gives His sap to His living branches.
How can you become a living branch of the vine?
This devotional was taken from “The Time of Your Life” a daily devotional published by the Youth & Educational Committee of the FRC. To order a printed copy of this book, contact: bookorders@frcna.org.