An Inextricable Connection

This weekend, I had the opportunity to have some girls over for a Valentine's Day sleepover. It was the best. We had an awesome popcorn bar - complete with Reese's Pieces, chocolate chips, and marshmallows. We relished in the splendor of the new Cinderella movie. And of course, we stayed up way too late. But my favorite part was the Bible study on God's love that we did in the morning. As we looked at a passage from John 15, we had the opportunity to listen in on some of Jesus' last words to His closest friends:

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

Jesus is the vine. He is the source of all life. I am a branch - inextricably connected to Him. He has guaranteed our connection through His Holy Spirit that He's given to all who believe in Him for life. Apart from Him, I certainly have no life at all.  Even if I thought I could do anything without Him, why would I want to? He is everything. He's the One who wants my life to be beautifully fruitful. And that's part of why He wants me to stay close to Him. Any good that comes from my life is only because I'm connected to Him. 

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. (John 15:1-2)

I am not just connected with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. I am also connected to the Father - the vinedresser. He's the one who takes care of the vine and the branches. He knows what He's doing when He takes away branches or prunes the ones that aren't bearing as much fruit as they could. So when hard things happen in life, I can take heart in knowing that my Father is using those things to help me be even more fruitful. And all the while, Jesus is with me in every situation - because we're still connected, even though other things in my life are taken away. 

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (John 15:9-11)

The Father is not just good and powerful, but He is also loving. He has loved Jesus, and Jesus shares that love with me. One of the ways He shares that love is by giving His commandments. They are meant to help me experience the Father's love more fully. And how could they not? The first command is love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And the second is love your neighbor as yourself. Those commands not only extend love to me, through helping me to relate with God and with others, but they help teach me to become someone who overflows love. That's the kind of person I want to be. That's the kind of life I want. A life that overflows with love is a life that overflows with joy. 

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you...You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide. (John 15:12-14,15-16)

Jesus has loved in the greatest, most beautiful way imaginable. He has laid down His life in order to call me His friend. He paid the price that my sins deserved so that I could be connected with Him. And this amazing demonstration of love comes from someone I would have never chosen to love if He had not loved me first. And yet His persevering love took Him all the way to death on a cross. 

Now He has called me to love others in that same sacrificial way. How free a person must be to be able to sacrifice themselves for the good of someone else! That's the kind of free I would love to be - to have such a focus on things of eternal significance. And that is exactly the result that Jesus promises in the lives of those who are connected with Him - they will bear fruit that abides. He promises to help us love like Him so that our lives can produce something more than earthly accomplishments. He can help us love in such a way that our lives can create ripples of lasting impact. 

Surely Jesus offers the truest, deepest, most secure, loving connection anyone can ever offer. Though there will be hard things about being connected with Him, He will never leave. And He promises a life so full of love and joy that it seems almost too good to be true. But it is true. And real. And overflowing. And lasting. 

So this Valentine's Day, I'm glad to be inextricably connected to Father, Son, and Spirit. 

Loving Him is Red!

What other things did you notice from John 15?

In what ways has your connection to Jesus added love and joy to your life?