Stay Connected

John 15:1–8

Jesus gives His disciples another picture they would have easily understood: “I am the vine, you are the branches.” A branch doesn’t struggle to manufacture grapes. It doesn’t wake up every morning determined to try harder to produce fruit. It simply stays connected to the vine, and life flowing from the vine produces the fruit.

Then Jesus repeatedly uses one simple word: remain. Remain in Me. Stay connected to Me. Make your home with Me. Jesus tells them, “The one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

We can spend so much of our faith journey trying harder. I need to pray more. I need to be more patient. I need to love better. I need to stop doing this. I need to start doing that. Those things matter, but Jesus points us toward something deeper. Before worrying about producing more fruit, pay attention to your connection to the Vine.

Spend time with Jesus. Talk to Him throughout your day. Open His Word. Listen. Pray. Invite Him into your decisions, relationships, worries and ordinary moments. Don’t make Jesus one part of your life that you visit occasionally. Do life with Him. The closer the branch stays to the Vine, the more His life begins showing through the branch.

Maybe spiritual growth isn’t always about trying harder.

Maybe sometimes it’s about staying closer.

Today’s thought: What can I do today—not just to work harder for Jesus—but to simply stay closer to Him?

Circle up!

Shannon Formby, Founder of My Faith Journey

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