Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Tuesday October 11, 2011

Sunday past I attempted to challenge the gathered throng at the church where I pastor to at least work on the idea of growing in our faith. We are admonished in 2 Peter 3:18 "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen."

I ranted on the theme as set forth by Jesus in John 15 with His magnificent reference to the vine and branches. The vine in this case being Christ Himself the many articles from around the world were of little to no benefit for Christ is perfect and remains that way. So the problem according to the analogy which has us humans as the branches is we humans. If the grape crop is off the mark, in our case the blame cannot be passed on to the vine, or to God who is the husbandman.

The point of the passage is simply that we are to grow into fruitful children of the Lord. Along the way in the sermon which some said they thought would last forever, was/is according to an article on the subject from the University of Iowa is the branches usually bear fruit for two years and then are pruned, thus making room for the younger more vibrant shoots to produce. This seems cruel, but when you factor in that the vine and the branches in John 15 are not actual vines and branches, but are God and His people you look for reality in the symbolism and lo and behold, the life of the Christian is not limited to two years, but rather in our case the branches can and should be renewed from the life of the vine on a regular basis, thus we bear much fruit.

The two year bit was thrown in to communicate that Christian growth is a constant rather than incidental part of our life. Too many folks are living off the growth of years long settled into the mist of time.

It's an observable fact that if we who name Christ reach a point where we are no longer in regular fellowship with Him, our growth begins to suffer and we are enjoying less abundance in bearing the fruit of the spirit noticeably becoming more like the grapes of bitterness instead of the sweet vine ripened ones of beauty and grace. Some even become withered and appear no longer usable.

Many who are withering on the vine are doing so due to a refusal to accept the life from the true vine, but are attempting to find spiritual nourishment in the vine of the world in some form. If your source of meaning is in anything or anyone beside Christ principles and Christ himself you are living a futile life that will produce nothing of lasting meaning in your spirit.

The simplified statement looks like this: To live a life of reality it is important to feel at home with Christ and to grasp to some degree that He is the ultimate source in our life as His life flows through us as Paul stated Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

Simple? Yes, on paper.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2011 Use with credit

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