The Branch

Yesterday we focused on Isaiah 11:1-16. It is a passage that is quite often passed over as confusing or hard to understand. The passage refers to Jesus as a shoot from the stump of Jesse. Jesus is also referred to as the branch that comes from that shoot. New life coming from something that is dead.

Isaiah was giving hope to the people of Israel. He was telling them that even in their "deadness," that new life would come from the Messiah.

I remember hearing a story many years ago about a man, who I will call Jack, being given the job of removing a thick growth of ivy from a wall surrounding a large piece of property. He was working hard at the task. This was a job that would not be accomplished in days or even weeks. He hacked and he cut back and then hacked some more. It was slow going.

At some point, a gentleman came by. The man stood and observed Jack working for a few minutes, and then walked over and asked if he could offer some advice. Jack was willing to hear anything that would help.

The man simply said, "Go along the bottom of the wall and cut the roots. Come back in a few days, and you will have dead vines to deal with. They'll come out much easier."

What a concept!

The reason that worked so well is this: If the thick growth of vines was not connected to the roots, they would die. It is much easier to remove dead branches and growth than it is to remove live ones.

The spiritual application is obvious. Stay connected to Jesus, the Vine. If we don't, we will die spiritually. From the Vine, we get life, health, and fruitfulness. Apart from the Vine, we get spiritual frailty and barrenness and, yes, death.

Jesus said it best:

"I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing." - John 15:5

Stay connected to the Vine. We literally depend on the Vine for our very lives, and we cannot function without Him.