In John 15:5, Jesus told his disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide [remain, reside] in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
Apart from the vine the branches can do nothing. Specifically, they can’t display the life that is in the vine.
Also, apart from the branches, the life that is in the vine has no outlet. It has no opportunity to express itself. I am not discounting the power of Almighty God but where the visible creation is concerned, He always prefers to work through willing humans. We see in scripture Adam, Abraham, Moses, David and at long last Jesus. Finally, we see the apostles and the formation of the Church.
Jesus still speaks to us. I am paraphrasing: “Yes, I am the vine. And YOU are the branches. Everyone who makes a home in me and draws on my life will bear fruit, which is the visible expression of my life!”
“For a long time I have held my peace; I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant. I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools. And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them” (Isaiah 42:14-16). These are the words of God.
For a long time, He has restrained Himself. The Almighty has chosen to limit Himself. We see this in the ministry of Jesus when he returned to Nazareth. He couldn’t do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Even now He is waiting for a people who choose to make their abiding place in Jesus, and for people who are willing to be led as though they were blind.
Mary, at the wedding in Cana, went to Jesus when the wine ran out. He asked her, “What is my part? What is your part? My time has not yet come.” She understood and acted. She paved the way for Jesus to intervene marvelously.
May the new year find us a people who is willing to bring God’s wait to an end, to make a way for Him to bring about everything that has been on His heart!
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