In the Gospel of John, Jesus unravels some of the mysteries of spiritual life by speaking in metaphorical language. This was intended to teach us about God’s kingdom and his present activity on this earth as well as its impact on our daily life. In one such metaphor Jesus describes life through the word picture of grape vines, where he tells his followers, “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). Woven within this word picture are some of the most incredible principles of promise that God has given us to understand life as he intended it to be lived out.
The first spiritual principle he gives us here, and the one that all the rest stem from, is that God is a very relational being. His promise to us is that he desires for us to know him and be connected with him.
This he has done through the work of Jesus on the cross to make a way for us to be connected with him. In saying that we are connected, it simply means that, through Jesus, we will now experience what Jesus called “fruit,” which in true experience equates our ability to experience God’s fullness in his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. All of these beautiful fruits are now available to us so that we can fully understand and experience the nature and character of God as well as our ability to live them out through God who is now living in and through us through our connection to Jesus.
Living a connected life is the second and most powerful gift that Jesus gives us, and yet can be difficult to maintain in our lives. In my first reflection I shared an experience that occurred before I came to believe and trust in Jesus, when my brother and I were whitewater rafting in the frigid waters of New York, only to be torn from the boat and wedged beneath a tree limb under water. In this experience, after unsuccessfully struggling to pull myself above the raging waters, I knew that I was probably going to die that day. In the midst of my panic, God spoke to me and told me, three times, to let go of the branch.
When I finally listened and let go, I found myself floating in the river. Delighted to be alive yet very curious about the voice that overwhelmed my panic and now had me flowing without fighting, unencumbered in the current. This brings me to second principle. Without God we can fight against life’s difficulties or we can learn to trust in his wisdom and answers that bring us to live in the flow of the current.
You see, skiers have to learn this very principle; there are two ways to go down a slope. One way involves fighting against the slope and the tug of the downhill pull by leaning back, which equates to a very miserable experience, or we can lean into the slope and experience the exhilaration of the ride. We live in some of the most trying and difficult times any of us could ever imagine; times, if we let them, that could be filled with fear and panic. Yet in his promise to us Jesus invites us into a connected life with him, where his voice can speak to us, calm us, and go with us into life’s rivers.
— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Paul Watkins is pastor of Church of the Nazarene, Monroe.
