A few years ago the Lord gave me the assignment to plant a small vegetable garden. After I had edged a bed with simple boards and filled it with vegetable soil, I planted a few tomato plants in the soil. I also sowed radishes, carrots and pumpkin. The potatoes came in large buckets.
The first work soon began. As a self-sufficient vegetable supplier, the first check in the morning was on the plants: Are there any small plants? Is there any fruit? I was pleased that the tomatoes had grown very well. Soon we could nibble small cocktail tomatoes straight from the bush. The beefsteak tomatoes took a little longer. The plants needed water and fertilizer. Some tomatoes just fell off before they were fully ripe. The ripe tomatoes had to be harvested regularly and in good time, otherwise they would rot before they could be eaten.
In the Bible, instead of tomatoes, I found the image of the vine and the branches: God is the gardener. Jesus is the vine. We are the branches. You can find the parable in John 15. Here Jesus explains to us that we vines have the task of STAYING CLOSE. "Whoever stays in me and I in him brings a lot of fruit."
The gardener is God the Father.
The vine is Jesus.
I am the branch - a person.
Could “fruit” also mean a person? A person in whom new, spiritual life grows - simply because the vine passes on his love to Jesus through me? It is interesting that the fruits do not grow directly on the trunk, but on the vines and branches. Jesus, who at the beginning himself taught and passed on the good news of the coming kingdom on earth, now prefers to use his branches - that is us.
I notice that as a messenger of God, I meet many different people who are looking for Jesus. When the seeds are sown, I have to give them the necessary growth help and support (water and fertilizer) and show the people that they have to STAY CLOSE to Jesus, our Lord and Savior, so that they continue to grow in and through Jesus and with Him bloom and then at some point bear fruit and bring in fruit.
The branch connects the fruit with the vine. We are supposed to bring people into contact with Jesus. Here, or anywhere in the world. When the vine puts a person, a language, a people, a country on your heart - stay tuned. Are you staying close to Jesus? How does that concrete look? Andstaying tuned on meeting people? Who are you thinking of right now? STAY TUNED
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