A Fruitful Vineyard

The grapevine is a very productive plant; a solitary plant that bears numerous grapes. In the Old Testament, grapes represented Israel's productivity (fruitfulness) in taking care of and doing the work of God on earth (Psalm 80:8; Isaiah 5:1-7; Ezekiel 19:10-14). In the Passover meal, the fruit of the plant represented the goodness of God to the Israelites.

In this passage of Scripture, Jesus teaches about the Vine and the branches. I would like to take a moment to look at this in three sections: the content, the condition, and the consequences of a fruitful vineyard.

The Content of a Fruitful Vineyard – The Church

In verses 1-5:

Christ is the vine, and God is the farmer who really focuses on the branches to make them productive. The branches are all who claim to be believers of Christ. The productive branches are genuine believers, who by their living association with Christ bear a lot of fruit. Be that as it may, the individuals who become useless, the individuals who turn around from following Christ in the wake of making a shallow commitment, will be isolated from the vine. Inefficient followers are just about as good as dead and will be cut off and thrown away.

Jesus makes a qualification between two sorts of pruning: (1) isolating and (2) scaling back branches. Productive branches are scaled back to advance development. All in all, God will at times teach us to fortify our character and faith. In any case, branches that do not prove to be fruitful are cut off at the base, since they are useless, they frequently contaminate the remainder of the tree. The individuals who will not prove to be fruitful for God or who attempt to impede the endeavors of God's believers will be cut off from the heavenly progression of life.

Fruit is not restricted to soul winning. Answered prayer, joy, and love are referenced as fruit (15:7, 11-12). Different qualities of the Christian character are portrayed as fruit in Galatians 5:22-24 and 2 Peter 1:5-8.

• God provides what we need.

• God purges, prunes, and promotes.

• What is produced is fruit, more fruit, and much fruit.

The Conditions of a Fruitful Branch – The Christian

In verses 6-8:

• Abide

• Believe Jesus is God’s Son.

• 1 John 4:15, Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

• Receive Christ as Savior and Lord.

• John 1:12, But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

• Do what God directs.

• 1 John 3:24, And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

• Continue in the faith.

• 1 John 2:24, Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.

• Relate with other believers.

• John 15:12, This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Numerous individuals attempt to do good, to be honest, and to make wise decisions. However, Jesus says the best way to carry on with a genuinely decent life is to remain connect to Him, like a branch connected to the plant. Aside from Him, our endeavors are unfruitful.

God is glorified when a plant bears "much fruit." For every day He sent the sun and the rain to make the crops develop, and He continually sustained each minuscule plant and set it up to bloom. What a snapshot of magnificence for the Lord of the harvest when the harvest is brought into the silos or barns, protected, and prepared for use. This cultivating similarity shows how God is glorified when individuals come into the correct relationship with Him and start to bear “much fruit" in their lives.

In verses 9-14:

• Obey

• Galatians 5:22-23, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

At the point when things are working out positively, we feel thrilled. But when difficulties come, we surrender to sadness. In any case, genuine euphoria rises above these influxes of situations. Joy comes from a steady relationship with Jesus. When our lives are interwoven with His, He will help us stroll through misfortune without sinking into crippling lows and oversee affluence without moving into tricky highs. The joy of living with Jesus Christ day by day keeps us prudent regardless of how high or low our conditions.