This week I was having a hard time deciding on one of two topics that God had placed on my heart. It turns out I could not decide so I asked God which one He wanted me to use. I felt His answer, and I don’t know if it is the message I needed this week, or maybe it is for someone else who is reading this message. It turns out both messages were from my Max Lucado devotional Grace For The Moment, so I will hold off on the other one until He tells me otherwise.
Today’s message is titled The Branch and the Vine, the June 2 devotional, and begins with the following scripture:
John 15:4 – Remain in me, and I will remain in you. A branch cannot produce fruit alone but must remain in the vine.
Max then shares God wants to be as close to us as a branch is to a vine. One is an extension of the other. It’s impossible to tell where one starts and the other ends. The branch isn’t connected only at the moment of bearing fruit. The gardener doesn’t keep the branches in a box and then, on the day He wants grapes, glues them to the vine…
God also uses the temple to depict the intimacy He desires. “Don’t you know,” Paul writes, “that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?” (1 Cor. 6:19 TEV). Think with me about the temple for a moment …. God didn’t come and go, appear and disappear. He was a permanent presence, always available.
What incredibly good news for us! We are NEVER away from God!
Indeed, what incredibly good news for us! We have continuous access to God, if only we take advantage of this opportunity throughout our lifetime. Unfortunately, we too often wander away from Him in our thoughts or actions. Sometimes it may be only for a short period of time, but it becomes problematic when our wanderlust lasts for months or even years!
God does not force himself into our lives, He is accepting of the decision we make to either choose to include Him in our life or not! In the good (and easy) times in our life, we may not feel the need to include God, especially in our younger years of life. However, as we age, we should find the desire to thank God for all the blessings He has bestowed on us over the years. Also, sometimes it may take a number of years for us to realize how an important decision “we” made years earlier was truly a blessing from God!
For those who may be too elderly or infirmed to attend church regularly, or for those younger in life but too busy to attend church, we still have God’s Word to lean on for our continued support. It is critically important to stay tethered to the vine throughout our life walk so we are building a life-long commitment to Jesus.
Psalm 119:105 – Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
This simple verse of scripture provides the needed illumination for us to walk without stumbling. My point in today’s message is to make sure we remember, and choose, to stay connected to God as our eternal vine – today, tomorrow, and for all of eternity!