I am The Vine, you are the branches.

l love this image of the vine wrapped all around the branch.

Intrinsically connected and interwoven.

Inseparable.

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I was talking to a friend this morning about our lives as followers of Christ. I was sharing with her that it is the deepest desire of my heart that all those I love would know and follow him.  Why?  Because he is my breath, my life, my hope, my reason for living.  He is my joy, my purpose, my all-in-all, and I want to share him with my world.  As this SONG says, “You can have all this world, but give me Jesus.”  We talked about how so many folks these days are saying just the opposite, “You can have all this Jesus and God stuff, just give me the world and all of it’s accoutrements.”   The branches have disconnected from the nourishment of the vine.

As I read the Vine and Branches discourse in John’s gospel, I am humbled to know that Jesus wants to live his life in each of us.  If we are truly his followers, and not just believers in him, we must realize that we are organically and intrinsically connected to Jesus, as a vine is connected to the branch.  I cannot live apart from My Vine!  I, as a branch, exist because of that vine, Jesus!  His life and my life are one, organically inseparable   His life wants to flow into and through me, so that his life is lived out through me.  How incredibly phenomenal is that realization?  And what does this realization give me? Hope, joy, and purpose! My life is bigger than me, bigger than my circumstance, bigger than any career or earthly status, bigger than anything this world can offer.   

As you practice prayerful yoga this week, pay attention to your body and how it is all inter-connected, how it beautifully moves and flows, one part inseparable from the others.  Notice how the branches depend on the vine, where your nourishment comes from, and how you energy moves and is sustained.  These physical laws remind us of the spiritual laws as well.  As one bodily system may say to another, “You can’t do this without me”, so Jesus says to us, “”I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower….you are the branches.  Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.”