Lessons From The Vine: Glorious Grapes

Okay, okay, so mayyyyyybe I'm a little stuck on the whole grapevine thing. (I wrote about them here and here.)

Probably because it's the only plant during the past ten years that I haven't killed.

Well, okay, so maybe I did kill it once, but it came back to life. A regular ol' Lazarus of a plant.

But more than that, the vine is brought up so often in scriptures (both in divine threats as well as in messages of hope) and every time I look at it I get some kind of new revelation of how it truly does compare to the relationship between us and God.

As I've watched the vine bud this year, it's been with a bit of trepidation, I'll admit. You see, I stopped pruning it last year near the end of the season and a lot of the leaves withered and browned and fell off. I was afraid that perhaps I had finally done the deed and sent it off to the great vineyard in the sky.

So, this year when those glorious, itty-bitty buds began appearing I was so relieved. And then I was ecstatic as I watched them burst out in beautiful grape leaves! I carefully arranged the branches that had fallen from where I had trained them last year, and then I noticed something about the buds and the branches that had me a bit crestfallen. The tips of the branches weren't budding. They weren't growing. They weren't showing any signs of new life. I was afraid that my vines weren't going to grow any longer.

When my husband pointed out the same thing, I responded with a little dejected, "I know." He responded, "But these are new branches. New areas of growth for the grape clusters to grow. They are coming from the branches that we grew last year."

And immediately again I had my God-Grapevine-January moment.

Sometimes, I want for my spiritual growth to happen in the exact same way. on the exact same path. following the exact same formula.

I want Jesus to train me as He has always trained me before. I want to know what to expect. I want to be able to plan for what is coming.

But, so often, God takes a 90 degree turn and shoots me off in a direction that I had not expected. Just like those grapevines. He is making new growth in my life from the branches that He grew in me last season! The journeys of faith (and faithlessness, I'll admit) that He and I have gone through over the past few years... those are sorta, stopping. There are new journeys that we are embarking upon together. A new direction.

New journeys that will result in new fruit, new "grapes", in me. And that fruit is what brings God glory!

When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. John 15:8

Them is gonna be some downright glorious grapes!

Lessons From The Vine: Experiments With Grapes

My son, like a lot of boys out there, loves to do "experiments". The most recent one was a request to mix up his lemon-lime gatorade with some milk and see what would happen. When I replied that we couldn't do that experiment because it would be wasting food, he looked at me and replied incredulously, "But MOMMMMM, it won't be wasted. I'm going to drink it."

Pretty sure I threw up a little in my mouth at just the thought.

Boys.

The "experiment" that he wanted to do just before that one was a little more tame. Almost a year ago, I wrote about our grapevines in this post, and well, they have been blossoming the past couple of weeks. It is so exciting to all of us! The blossoming represents SPRING! which represents WARM weather! (well... eventually) which represents playing in WATER! which, to my boys, represents hours of endless FUN! and, to me, represents hours of my boys being easily OCCUPIED by something other. than. me.

Can I get an Amen?

When my experimenting son, Pasco, asked me to explain how a grape turns into a raisin, I put on my Mommy-Knows-All hat and explained away. So intrigued he was by the explanation that he requested that we get two grapes and leave them out to dry in the sun. Hmmmmm. Two grapes. Yes, we could spare two grapes in the name of science.

So, we placed the two grapes on a Lighting McQueen plate and left them in the 80 degree sun.

After I put the boys in their rooms for naps/room-time, I went back outside to have some sanity-time... oh, I mean... alone time in the backyard. I sat there looking at those grapes and then looking at the vine. at the grapes. then at the vine.

And it sorta struck me. In a month or so, grapes would be hanging from that vine under a hot, Texas sun. Luscious. Juicy. Full of Life.

But.

If you separate those exact same grapes from that vine and put them out under that same hot, Texas sun. They will be Shriveled. Dry. Dead.

Boy howdy.

Aren't we just like that???

Connected to The Vine, we are vibrant and joyful. We are bursting with praise and worship and kindness and goodness. We are full of His Life!

Separated from The Vine, we can become depressed, cynical, or embittered. We sometimes draw inward, saving each ounce of happiness just for ourselves. We tend to lose all hope and future.

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, 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... When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. John 15:4-5,8

Now, please don't allow this to make you think "You need to do better. You need to read the Bible more. You need to go to church more often. You need to pray more. You need to... You need to... You need to..."

That's not at all what I'm trying to convey.

And remember, Jesus (who said all that stuff in those verses up there) also said, "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." Matthew 11:28-30

Yes. Reading the bible is going to keep you connected to Him. Yes. Going to church is going to keep you connected to Him. Yes. Praying is going to keep you connected to Him.

But think about those grapes that will hang from that vine. They don't "do" anything! They just... remain. They stay attached. That's all. GOD is the one that fills them with nutrients. with water. with flavor. So, if I'm encouraging you (and oh, believe me, I'm speaking to myself here as well) to "do" anything, it's to stay attached to Him. to remain in Him. to cling to Him.

And He'll be making big, ol, juicy grapes before you know it.