“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”
(John
15:5 - NASV)
You’ve most likely heard the adage,
“Don’t get the cart in front of the horse.” It most likely came about due to
the common problem of many who try to skip important steps in an effort to
complete a task more quickly. It’s like hurrying up the stairs only to miss
one, trip, slam your shin against the step, and endure a painful bruise. Or it may
be that you didn’t calculate your route carefully and your short-cut has put
you in a construction zone, on a dead-end street (in a bad part of town), or
stuck in a traffic jam. What you learn is the patience required to ensure that next
time you have all the necessary resources in the proper order to see a project
through to a successful end.
This happens to the majority when it
comes to living their lives (both their physical and spiritual lives). So many
of Jesus’ teachings reinforce the need to build a life on a firm foundation –
Him. The Apostle writers constantly urge Christians to use care about how they
think, talk and act on a daily basis. Much of Scripture is a history of the blessings
that came to those who followed the right way – God’s way and the troubles
caused by people putting the spiritual cart before the spiritual horse. Fortunately
we serve a loving, merciful God who has always gone to great lengths to help us
correct this all-too-common characteristic. The ultimate blessing we have through
our faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus the Christ, is that God’s Spirit
guides us to make sure that we keep first things first. We are constantly being
taught to follow a logical pattern of thinking, speaking, and action in order to
fulfill the purpose we were created for in the first place.
Jesus reminded His disciples just before
He went to the cross how to ensure success in their walk of life. In the verses
above Jesus pointed out to them the essential requirement of maintaining a
connection to Himself. For those who desire a long, healthy life the way to put
the spiritual horse before the spiritual cart is to remember that . . .
1. Jesus is
and always will be the vine. That’s a job appropriate only for a sinless,
divine being, not a faulty, sin-damaged human. Life-sustaining energy strong
enough to enrich and enliven a healthy life can only flow through the One who
(a) created life and who (b) was able to live it perfectly. Getting the cart
before the horse here (our trying to be the vine) will cut off the supply of
nourishment and kill the plant.
2. We will
always be a branch. To survive we must rely on Him to supply all of our
needs. Our job is to abide in Jesus so that we have the nourishment and support
of the true vine that is crucial for healthy survival. Getting the cart before
the horse here severs the connection to Jesus and leads to our shriveling up
and dying.
3. Bearing
fruit requires we maintain a complete, unadulterated connection to Jesus. The
natural result of staying closely connected to Jesus is that we (the branches)
bear healthy, nourishing fruit. A loose, faulty connection produces immature, unhealthy
fruit that is good for nothing else but the trash heap.
4. The result
of self-reliance is that we end up being good for nothing but kindling a
bonfire – the biblical description of hell. Useless plants that refuse to
fulfill their purpose for planting cannot be allowed to take up valuable soil.
So here’s what we can do to ensure that
the spiritual horse is in front of the spiritual cart:
1. We all want
to live. Get into Christ (Galatians 3:26-27) and maintain a complete connection
with Him.
2. We all want
to be useful in God’s kingdom. Live in step with His Spirit (Rom. 8:9-11).
3. We all want
to bear healthy fruit for God (see Galatians 5:22-23 for a short list). Tap
into and use the strength God provides (Philippians 4:13).
4. No one
wants to die eternally. So strive to sustain a strong connection to Jesus. Apart
from Him it is impossible for us to live, survive, or to bear fruit. However the
true blessing is that with Him all things are possible (Matthew 19:25-26).
Doug
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