Connected to the True Vine

By Jessica Brodie

Have you ever felt a profound connection with someone? For many of us, that first connection was with our mother. That was the case with me. For nine months, she carried me in her womb, then birthed me. She nurtured and nursed me until I could eat and walk and generally care for myself, and though we’re individuals decades past those days, that physical, emotional, and spiritual connection persists.

It's the way I feel with my own kids, both the two I birthed and the two I’m blessed to call my stepkids. Whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, once bonds are established, they’re hard to break.

When I was pregnant, the phrase “you’re eating for two” really stuck with me. I realized everything I put into my body passed on to my unborn child through the umbilical cord that tied us together, whether that was healthy, nutritious food or junk. My baby was connected to me, and I was connected to my baby, tied together by God’s design.

It’s the same with us and Jesus.

Just like a baby in a mother’s womb must be connected to the mother through the umbilical cord, we must be connected to Jesus to stay alive.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus gave us a powerful metaphor to help us understand this truth. He said he’s the vine, and God is the gardener. To keep the vine healthy and fruitful, the gardener prunes the vine periodically, cutting away the rotten, dying, fruitless branches.

We are the branches, Jesus said. If we’re fruitful and healthy, connected with him, we all grow and flourish together.

As he said in John 15:5-6, “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned” (NIV).

Like a baby is connected to its mother, we are connected to Jesus—only that connection is eternal.

Jesus also said, “Remain in me, as I also 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” (v. 4).

We must be connected to Jesus to stay alive, to bear fruit, to do anything of significance.

Human relationships are tremendously flawed and fragile. Not every mother who births a child enjoys a loving, lifelong bond together. Not every child makes it to birth. This earthly life is delicate, and nothing is guaranteed—not happiness, not long life.

But one thing is certain: Our connection to God. Through Jesus Christ, our vine, we are intimately and perfectly connected. Together, we are one, and together we inherit the kingdom of God forever.

Sometimes in life it’s hard to remember what we’re going through now isn’t “everything.” But my friends, there is so much more we cannot even glimpse, let alone imagine.

So let’s nurture our connection with the Lord so it’s healthy and fruitful, whatever that looks like—for it will look a little bit different for everyone.

And let’s trust in the promises from above.

We are assured, and we are beloved. Always.

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