… Jesus is the true vine. We’ve got to be connected to the right vine to bear fruit.

If you’re a grape branch, don’t get tied to a durian tree. You’re just going to drop off and wither. And if you’re grafted to a root or vine that is destined to death and decay, then that too will be your end.

We’ve got to be connected to the right vine to bear fruit.

Here’s an interesting fact worth a thought. In the middle of the 19th century, French winemakers imported species of grapes from North America. Unfortunately, that brought along foreign aphids which caused a blight known as grape phylloxera.

The Old-World wine grapes, unlike the American ones, were defenceless to this. Many of these vines were utterly wiped out. For two decades, vineyards across Europe were sucked out of life by these aphids.

Because French grapes were exported to other winemaking regions where Old World vines had been used, these other regions, such as Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, too were devastated.

Winemakers tried to battle the problem using strong insecticides and even flooding the vineyards. None were truly effective.

The solution, as it turned out, after two decades of experimentation, was the age-old technique that the ancient world in biblical times would have been familiar with.

Old World vines were grafted onto American roots which had developed resistance to the blight. Today, almost all wine grapes are grown from this American rootstock.

The Scriptures similarly use the image of grafting into a spiritual source of life (Isaiah 60:21; Romans 6:4-6, 11:11-17).

We who purport to follow Jesus are supposed to be grafted into the living vine that will not die. The danger is if we are grafted into a vine that, in the end, is susceptible to blight and decay.

Sin entered the world through one man (grapevine?) and sin is overcome through one true Man (living rootstock?).

So, the question is: Do we really know Jesus? Are we living according to the true vine, Jesus? Or are we living according to our own beliefs, our own wisdom, or the philosophies and ideologies that’s trending in the world right now?

So, faithfulness brings fruitfulness. Faithfulness is to obey and pray.

This is an adapted excerpt from Ronald’s latest book titled, “Does Anything Matter? Why a Christian should still care in a world of despair”. More information on the book and where you can get it here