Daily Affirmations - Day 1 - The True Vine: Remain in Me
This week's Theme: The True Vine
Day 1: Remain in Me
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener" (John 15:1).
My butternut squash showed so much promise early in the growing season! I planted them in a different spot this year, close to the small fence around my cherry tree. Voilà, a ready-made trellis!
As the weeks passed, I was excited to see more and more flowers emerging along the length of the vine. I knew that not all of them would be pollinated, but there were ample male and female flowers and I could see the bees and other pollinators busy at work.
I looked forward to a bountiful harvest. Butternut is of one of my favorite squash varieties, reminiscent of our own Caribbean pumpkin.
Alas, I missed the early signs of trouble. But looking back, I realized that the same enemy that eventually decimated my zucchini (courgette) had also bored its way into my beloved winter squash.
Slowly, the vine began to die. By now, there were two fully grown squash on the vine, and I desperately hoped they would mature before the vine died. (Butternut squash does not mature and ripen off the vine, although there is a curing period off the vine after they ripen and are harvested.)
As I bemoaned my squash setbacks, it struck me once again how the lessons I learn from all the hits and misses in my amateur gardening help me to understand and appreciate the many farming/growing illustrations Jesus used to teach spiritual truths.
“I am the vine..." He told the disciples. "If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
I suddenly got it— in a new way. Apart from that vine, my squash is done for. No maturing, ripening, surviving. Squash need the vine— the strong, supportive, nurturing vine— the true vine.
I think of all the sick, unhealthy, diseased vines we can cling to in life— people, relationships, things, beliefs, philosophies, habits, familiar but destructive patterns... Until suddenly we are left hanging, unsupported, and we realize that we have been clinging to what is dry, withered, unstable, useless, dead...
This is true in all realms— the natural, the spiritual, the eternal. Only in the true vine can we find the One who is life (John 1:4), for this world and the next. Jesus alone gives us the assurance of life, growth, and fruit that will last (John 15:16):
Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me (John 16:4).
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