I am the true vine. (John
15:1)
The true vine is that which fulfills the
one and only purpose of its existence. So Jesus brings this illustration over to
Himself and His Church, and it is perfectly clear what is the nature of the Lord
Jesus. He is reaching out to all men, embracing the whole world. He asks ALL
the nations into His heart. ALL men are His concern and not any one nation.
He said to His disciples: "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of ALL THE
NATIONS" (Matthew 28:19). It is the very nature of Jesus to do that. It is quite
foreign to Him to be exclusive, small and narrow and self-occupied....
But it
is all very well to think of this objectively. It has to
come down to every one of us. What is the proof that
Christ is in you and in me? How can it be known that
Christ is in us? Only in one way – that others are
receiving Life through us, that we minister the Life of
Christ to others, that when hungry and needy people come
into touch with us they feel the touch of Life. They may
express it in different ways, but it amounts to this:
'That man, that woman, has something that I have not got
and it is something that I need. There is something about
them that I feel, and it is what I really need.' That
should be true of every Christian because Christ is in
us, expanding Himself through us and ministering His Life through us.
Oh, do
pray, dear friends, every day as you get up: 'Lord, make
me a channel of Life to someone today. Lord, minister
Your own Life through me to someone today. May I
bring Life wherever I am.' The Lord has no other purpose
for you and for me. We may try to do a lot of things, but
if we belong to the Vine we are no good for anything but
to bear fruit; and that is to bring Life to others.