Andrew Murray
"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. Already you are
clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine,
neither can you, unless you abide in me." John 15:1-4
In the whole plant world there is not a tree to be found so
specially suited to the image of man in his relation to God as the vine. There
is none of which the fruit and its juice are so full of the spirit, so
quickening and stimulating. Of all plants, not one needs the pruning knife so
unsparingly and so unceasingly. None is so dependent on cultivation and
training, but with this none yields a richer reward to the husbandman. In His
wonderful parable, the Savior, with a single word, refers to this need of
pruning in the vine and the blessings it brings. But from that single word what
streams of light pour in upon this dark world, so full of suffering and sorrow
to believers! What treasures of teaching and comfort to the bleeding branch in
it's hour of trial: “Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it
may bring forth more fruit” (John 15:2 KJV). And so He has prepared His people,
who are so ready when trial comes to be shaken from their confidence, and to be
moved from their abiding in Christ, to hear in each affliction the voice of the
messenger that comes to tell them to abide still more closely. Yes, believer,
most especially in times of trial, abide in Christ.
Abide in Christ! This is indeed the Father’s object in
sending the trial. In the storm the tree strikes deeper roots in the soil; in
the hurricane the inhabitants of the house abide within and rejoice in its
shelter. So by suffering the Father would lead us to enter more deeply into the
love of Christ. Our hearts are continually prone to wander from Him; prosperity
and enjoyment all too easily satisfy us, dull our spiritual perception, and
make us unfit for full communion with Himself. It is unspeakable mercy that the
Father comes with His chastisement, makes the world around us all dark and
unattractive, and leads us to feel more deeply our sinfulness and for a time
lose our joy in what was becoming so dangerous. He does it in the hope that,
when we have found our rest in Christ in time of trouble, we will learn to
choose abiding in Him as our only portion, and so when the affliction is
removed, we will have so grown more firmly into Him, that in prosperity He
still will be our only joy.
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