Photo and Commentary ©2023 by Cheryl Boardman
Monday, August 21, 2023
I found this bunch of grapes at my nearest Sunday farmer’s market. There was a lot of fruit at the small market but this is the first time I’ve seen grapes there.
I like these verses where Jesus was talking to the disciples about how bearing fruit can only be done by being connected to the Vine (Jesus said that He was the vine) and without being connected to the Vine, they couldn’t bear fruit.
“I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.
“Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.
“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.
John 15:1-8 (The Message)