Plugged in

"I am the true vine, and my Father is a 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. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:1-5, ESV)

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I don't know about you guys, but I read that passage and I immediately felt convicted. As a Christian we are called to abide in the Vinedresser because we are His branches. Let me paint you guys a picture... You are outside and you are surrounded by marvelous trees. All of the branches are green and healthy because they are plugged into their source of life: the trunk/tree. Get the picture? We are called to be the branches to our tree (Jesus Christ). If we are plugged into Him, we are able to be filled with life and beauty. The branches thrive when they are plugged into the real source of life. Sounds easy right? Wrong! I feel like this is a huge misconception a lot of Christians have, they feel like they are plugged in to the right source...

I am going to be really honest, it is easy for me to claim that I love Jesus and He is the source of my happiness but my actions declare otherwise. I feel like often times I have attempted to plug my branch into things that I have felt can sustain my source of life, but instead have just left me dead and unfulfilled. Just recently I sat a few of my friends down and I apologized to them, for so long I have plugged my branch into them for them to be my source of happiness and love. I had to let them off the hook because that is a never ending cycle of exhaustion for them and brokenness for me. People are unreliable and inconsistent, things are temporary and flawed, and animals are incompetent and lack emotion. You simply cannot find one thing on earth that will bring your branch life the way Jesus can.

What are you plugging yourself into? Some of you might say likes on instagram are a main source for your happiness, trust me I get that rush of happiness when I see 100 likes on my post too, but it is so temporary and it only lasts for about a day. Some of you might say your boyfriend or girlfriend, there may be countless good times with your loved one but they also mess up and can hurt you, and making them responsible for your happiness can make them your idol and that can bring enmity between you and your loved one and more importantly you and God. Just as a branch is shown as dead and weak when removed from a tree, we are too when removed from the only true source of life. We are dependent on Jesus and some of us just need to get replugged in and allow Jesus to be our main source of life!