The Story of a Vine and a Branch...

Exactly one year ago today I wrote in my journal about the lessons I was learning. Today I look back and find that those truths are still vastly applicable to my life... and maybe to yours as well. So let me share with you the story of a Vine and a Branch:

"Keep God at the center." Those are the words that a friend told me as I began my travel adventures last year. It's a year later now; I have had great adventures; I have gotten accustomed to new worlds; I have found new and wonderful sources of joy, direction, and fulfillment.

But something has been missing. Through all the delights and learnings of this little life, I've still been left feeling that something's missing. I'm discontented with myself; I'm too often feeling guilty; I'm at a loss for understanding my own identity?

What can be missing? That was the question. Then I think back to a book I read recently about Martin Luther... and I find the first few pieces of the answer puzzle. Martin Luther-- he knew Scripture. He knew the ins and outs of it. And he knew God. Christ was everything to him-- I mean, really, truly everything.

Now I ask myself, "Are you at that place?" I know that I'm not there with Scripture. For long years now I've known that many of my deepest problems would be solved if I just made myself delve more deeply into the Book of Wisdom-- actually took the time to get to know God better. Okay (I say to myself), that's doable.

But then it strikes me-- it is not just a matter of not spending enough time in devotions. It is a matter of not having God truly at the center. It is a matter of not having Christ as my above-all and over-all focus.

Oh, yes, I have a very Christian outlook on life. I see the world as a mission field and I think and talk rather Christianly. But deep down-- deep down, I hardly know the Christ I serve, and I hardly truly focus on Him. It's hard to explain, even to a silent, patient blog post screen-- but I think my idea of what it means to serve God is not quite set up on the right foundation.

Because, you see, this is what has just occured to me: it is not quite enough for me to just make myself read more Scripture, and then assume that I will automatically "get to know God" better that way. That is part of it, certainly-- but I must start at the very heart of things. "My" life must be completely disassembled, and begun on the proper foundation. Christ must be not just a tag-on, an added feature, a side dish to bring added pleasure to myself and other. No.

He must be my all and everything. He must be the self that Emily is formed around. He must be. And then through Him, I can be.

I tend to live my life as though I am a tree and He is the water I occasionally drink from for added strength. Or, sometimes, even as though He is merely my neighboring tree, bigger and more powerful, but not distinctly a part of me. What foolishness is this! For He is the tree itself, and I am but a branch off of that tree! He is the vine itself, and I am but a feeble, dependent tendril off of that vine.

Or, I tend to live as though He is my job-- as though I am a salesman, carrying Him with me wherever I go, but being my own person on the inside, enjoying the tourism along the route. Yet He is so much more than merely the product or the employer. He is the foundation, and the reason for the journey, and the sight to be seen there. He pays for the trip and He is the trip. He is the traveller-- and I am the sleeve on the traveller's arm.

So this is it. The paradigm must not merely shift. It must be completely made new.

But, wait-- making new-- that is, after all, what He does best. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17).

So, then, there's hope. Hope for a remade paradigm-- a new understanding of who I am in Christ. And hope for the love, joy, peace, wisdom, warmth, safety, and strength that come from being not just a Christianese-speaking "follower" of Christ... but a branch gaining all its direction, nourishment, and life from the True Vine.


"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love."
John 15:1-10