WEEK BEGINNING SUNDAY 5th MAY
I AM SIGNIFICANT
There are several areas of life in which I am known as a number.
Even in school my clothes were marked LambA35, in the RAF I was 609102, then I have my NI number, my passport number, my Bank number, my driving licence number, my ….. So there are times when each of us feels little more than a number on a register, an anonymous person in a huge organisation.Not surprisingly, we feel insignificant in a relentless machine. Even worthless in the grand scheme of things. This week we explore the idea that as children of God we are both significant and of value to the Heavenly Father who loves us.
v 5. I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine, and a channel of his life.
There is no end of books about pruning trees and shrubs. Some writers seem to make it very complicated while others take a ‘chainsaw and hack’ approach – especially to roses! One thing is absolutely certain in the process however, once you cut the branch off it withers and has neither flowers nor fruit. Detached, it has no value and no significance beyond firewood. Stay attached and the tree pours its energy into every branch and the fruit can be formed.
Right through the Old Testament the people of Israel are portrayed as God’s vine. In Psalm 80 the writer says ‘You brought us from Egypt like a grapevine; you drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land. You cleared the ground for us, and we took root and filled the land.‘ The picture continues into the New Testament. Every believing Christian is seen as a branch with potential to bear fruit. Every branch is of value and is significant so long as it remains attached to the vine. Only then can the life of God, the energy of the Holy Spirit, flow into a person and make that believer’s life fruitful.
You have the potential to bear fruit in your life that will honour God and be a blessing to others around you. You are significant in the purposes of God simply because he loves you and has a plan to do good through you.