Do you have a green thumb? I surely do not. I like plants though. I have a number of houseplants, some have done very well in spite of my care, others have only been with me for a short time if you catch my drift.

Plants, that’s the word picture that Jesus uses in chapter 15 to describe a healthy productive relationship with God. John 15:16 says, “I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit”. This sounds like something, as a follower of Christ, we should look into.

Jesus was a carpenter by trade, but it is obvious that he also was aware of the general workings of a vineyard and his disciples, even though the were trained in other fields, were at least familiar with grape vines. They were apparently common enough at the time of Jesus, that He was able to communicate His point to the disciples, without the use of a PowerPoint presentation. Amazing!

Before we get to the heart of Jesus’ message, there are a few important details to understand.

1. Jesus is speaking to the 11 disciples that remained with Him in the upper room hours before He would be betrayed, tried, and crucified. That helps me understand how important this message was. Jesus has spent 3 1/2 years with these guys but they are now down to their final hours with Him, and His with them. You know the feeling? Before your loved one leaves on a long trip. Before your child leaves for college. Before you are rolled away heading for the operating room. You say the things that are weighing heavily on your heart. Right?
2. This is a word picture is about the relationship between God and His people.
3. There are three (well maybe four) main characters/roles. A. God B. Jesus C. True believers D. False believers

Okay! Now we are ready to dig in. This statement captured my attention right away. It’s the one I see in the chapter written as an EXCLAMATION! It contains the word JOY, which is very much in my forethoughts these days.

Verse 11, “I have told you these things so that your JOY will overflow!”

And how is someone able to be overflowing with joy? Let’s take a look.

Jesus says that like the grape vine has many branches connected to it, there are many people connected to Jesus. There are two types of branches. The vine has branches that look connected but are not producing. In other words there is no evidence that all of life flowing out of the vine is reaching that branch and flowing through it, to make it productive. When that happens, the gardener/vinedresser/vigneron/caretaker cuts it off. That action makes the whole plant healthier.

Likewise, with Jesus, there are people who appear to be connected, they might be churchgoers, they might agree that there is a God, they might have heard stories about Him in the Sunday School class they attended at their grandparent’s church; they appear to be connected and sound like they might be connected, but in reality, they are not. They are pretenders. There is no evidence of spiritual fruit being produced in their lives. Like the dead branch on the vine that gets cut off and provides fuel for a fire, they will be cut off. There is no sign of life in them.

Step one is to DECIDE. Are you connected to Jesus or pretending to be?

If you have decided that this is the way for you to go, and want to be truly connected, you must submit yourself to His care. God needs to PRESIDE over your life, giving you guidance and direction. The caregiver has control over the plant to lift up the branches, to clean them off, and to prune them back (John 15:3) which helps the plant be more fruitful. God, in the believer’s life, does the work to make that believer produce fruit. Let me say that again, God does the fruit-producing work, not you. John 15:5 “…For apart from me you can do nothing.” This is a very important distinction to make. You aren’t responsible for producing fruit, God is.

Step one is to DECIDE, step two is to let God PRESIDE, and now your effort in step three is to ABIDE. Abiding is the part that you and I are responsible to do.

What does abide mean? The Greek word for abiding is “meno”. It means to stay or remain. In today’s culture, I think of the word “hang”, meaning we are going to stick together, like “me and my shadow”.

So what does that look like? It’s like an internet connection. When I am connected I have the power to search the web. I have the ability to communicate with others who are also connected. I can have a program or app to remind me of appointments. I can order an item from somewhere else in the world and have that item shipped to me. It’s pretty amazing!

But not nearly as amazing as the connection to God. When I abide in Christ, I am filled over and over with His power. God produces fruit in me: the spiritual fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and self-control. Outside of Him I cannot produce this fruit. Verse 4 says, “you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”

The blessings go on. When you remain in me, you can ask me for anything. (John 15:7) You will be my disciple! Jesus says, and how does He know? Because you’re producing “much” fruit. When all of this is rolling along according to plan, God the Father is glorified. (John 15:8) And finally, as I started in the beginning you are FILLED WITH JOY!!

Here are a couple of practices I’ve found helpful to “stay connected”. Just like with the internet it helps to be close to the source, so you have a strong signal. Being close to God means you need to HEAR Him. The best way to hear Him is to read the words He wrote to you in the scripture. Spend time in it. Listen to it. Study it. Learn it. Put it into practice. Share it. Repeat.

Another way that I connect with God is to meditate. This means I focus my thoughts on a Bible verse, or a word, or an attribute of God. This quiet focussed time will usually result in worship, praise, admiration, and the comfort of resting in the truth.

What if we get disconnected? We all know from personal experience: interference, too great of a distance, a lack of power, a wrong password, and so on can be reasons our internet connection is interrupted or disconnected. In a spiritual sense, we can just as easily experience disconnection from God. We are interrupted by “noise” or the reality of our physical life in a physical world. These are passing moments for an abiding or connected Christian. An abiding Christian seeks time with God to reconnect after their connection was down temporarily.

Avoiding disconnection and quickly reconnecting becomes much easier the more time you actually spend with God each day. It is like any growing relationship. The more you get to know Him, the more you want to spend time with Him, the more you miss Him when you’re not with Him. Does that make sense?

John 15 is a wonderful chapter that talks about our personal relationship with God; and the benefits of connection, the fruit that is produced, the love that is shared, the power that is enabled, and the protection provided.

We need to decide to enter into that relationship, allow God to preside in our lives, and then abide in Him in a growing relationship. The result will be a fruit-filled life, others see and want to be part of.