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The Vine Analogy Rooted in Christ, going to seed by Carrie Francis Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." —John 10:10b "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." —John 15:5 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." —Galatians 5:22-23 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." —Acts 1:8 Something I was reading a few months ago had these verses in this order on one page. As I read through them, I started to realize that the plant/vine/grain analogies throughout the New Testament really combine to make a rather coherent plant. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. He nourishes us, gives us water, holds us up, and allows us to grow. But as we grow, we grow out from Him — not away from Him, but out to the world. If we aren't connected to Him, we can't grow toward life to bring life to others — we simply shrivel up as we try to do things on our own, and we die. When I try to do things on my own, I start feeling like everything depends on me and forget that God is in total control. I have a weight on my shoulders and a lot of anxiousness! On the other hand, if we stay connected to Jesus, we will continue to be nourished and strengthened in order to grow. There's a peace that comes with remaining connected to Jesus because there's a realization that God is in control, and while He may be allowing me to participate in what He's doing, it doesn't depend on me. As we grow and mature in our walks with God, we begin to bear fruit that is visible to others: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." The purpose of a plant growing fruit is to produce seeds to start the next generation of plants. Likewise, the fruit of the Spirit, in its time, produces seeds to be sown in the next generation of believers. These seeds, combined with the direction God grows us, cause seeds to be sown "even to the remotest part of the earth."