The True Vine

I am reading The True Vine, by Andrew Murray. I am about half way through this little book. Its words have simple clarity, profound meaning, and a resonance deep within my heart. John 15:5, "I am the vine, and ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, he same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing," is a familiar verse to me. And I have at times thought, when I have faced an especially difficult situation, that maybe Jesus wants to use me to minister to someone else facing a similar difficulty. But Andrew Murray's words provide fresh meaning to me, communicating in certain terms the Father as the husbandman and Jesus as the vine. Just as Jesus said, "The Son can do nothing of himself," (John 5:19), I must have absolute dependence on and perfect confidence in Jesus Christ my Saviour.

Take time to ponder Murray's words:

A vine must have a husbandman to plan and watch over it, to receive and rejoice in its fruit. Jesus says: "My Father is the husbandman." Jesus was "the vine of God's planting.: All He was and did, He owed to the Father; in all things He only sought the Father's will and glory. He had become man to show us what a creature ought to be to its Creator. He took our place, and the spirit of His life before the Father was ever what He seeks to make ours: "Of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: (Romans 11:36). He became the true Vine, that we might be true branches. Both in regard to Christ and ourselves the words teach us the two lessons of absolute dependence and perfect confidence. (1)

(1) The True Vine, by Andrew Murray, published by Moody Press, Chicago, 1997, page 14