Daily Devotions
John
John 15:1-17 "THE PROBLEM OF UNFRUITFULNESS"
Day 212 – John 15
THE PROBLEM OF UNFRUITFULNESS
The topic of fruit bearing should not worry the true believer! However, if fruit were not evident in the life of the so-called Christian, then he would be well advised to ponder over this statement Jesus made.
“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit
He takes away;
and every branch that bears fruit He prunes,
that it may bear more fruit.”
John 15:2
THE WORK OF THE FATHER AS THE VINEDRESSER
Jesus always spoke of His Father being directly involved in His life’s work. Conversely, He also spoke of His work as merely doing what He sees His Father doing. Let us read again what Jesus said on previous occasions.
1. The Father’s Work
Jesus spoke of His Father in numerous contexts. Let us highlight just a few of them.
a) The Father as a Witness
“The Father who sent Me bears witness of Me”
John 8:18
b) The Father as Teacher
“As My Father taught me, I speak these things”
John 8:28 (John 12:49-50)
2. The Son’s Appreciation of His Father’s work.
Jesus always spoke of doing His Father’s will, and His work. He also mentioned time and again of His being sent by His Father.
“Most assuredly, I say to you,
the Son can do nothing of Himself,
but what He sees the Father do;
for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner”
John 5:19
“… the works which the Father has given Me to finish-
the very works that I do- bear witness of Me, that
the Father has sent Me.”
John 5:36
It should come as no surprise to us when Jesus introduced His Father as the Vinedresser. He was vitally interested and involved in His Son’s work!
The horticultural work of the Vinedresser is an endless and unenviable task! His work is to ensure that the vine will be most fruitful. He has to tend the vine daily. He has to prune the branches again and again, to ensure that they will bear much fruit! He has to give full attention to the task at hand. He has to work from dawn to sunset. He has to make sure that the vine is well protected from any blight that could harm it.
UNFRUITFUL BRANCHES
There really is no such thing as an unfruitful branch. The branch bears fruit naturally! The Vine provides all the nourishment the branch needs to bear fruit. The Vinedresser does His part to ensure that there will indeed be fruit! What could go wrong?
All analogies have limitations. We need to make a departure from natural analogy at this point of time. The branch that does not bear fruit at all would be illustrative of a false believer.
He may have knowledge of Jesus. He may respect His teachings. He may attend Church meetings. He may even be a member of a local church. However, the possibility is that he may not be a true believer!
He may be likened to Nicodemus before he was born again. He knew the Scriptures. He had even earned a reputable name of “Teacher of Israel” (John 3). However, he was not a branch attached to the True Vine – not at that point of time anyway!
The fact that the branches are unfruitful simply proves that they were not connected to the True Vine. It may even be said that they had not partaken of the Bread of Life. They did not walk in the Light that was Jesus. They were not His sheep! He was not their Shepherd!
THE WORK OF PRUNING
The work of the Vinedresser included that of pruning the branches. In horticultural work, this task is a tedious one. Nevertheless, it is a work that must be done – and carefully! The expert vinedresser knows just how much He should prune to bring forth the best results from the branches.
The word “prune” is an application of the word “cleanse.” This is an important observation to make. The work of the Vinedresser is to cleanse and sanctify the believer. Faith in Jesus brings forgiveness of sins. The work of cleansing and sanctification still need to be done if the believer is to produce much fruit in his life. This was one of the works that the Father was committed to doing as the Divine Vinedresser.
Sin hinders the growth of the believer. Sin hurts the fruitfulness of the believer. The only way to deal with the problem of sin in the life of the believer is for the Father to prune or cleanse the life of the believer.
The pruning or cleansing process is absolutely necessary. However, there are times when the pruning process is understandably painful. The believer would do well to yield himself to the loving hand of the Father. He knows exactly what He is doing when He cleanses or prunes the branch. His goal is to enable the branch to bear good fruit!
How our hearts must yearn to be more fruitful as branches! How we must yield ourselves in full faith and trust as the Father works in our lives – pruning the branches.