_THE VINE AND THE BRANCH_
JOHN xv. 1-16.
I need the Lord. What can a branch do apart from the vine? It may retain a
certain, momentary greenness, but death is advancing apace. And there are
multitudes of professing Christians who are like detached branches; their
spiritual life is ebbing away: they do not startle the beholder and cause
him to exclaim, "How full of life!" They do not _strike_ at all! They have
no splendid "_force_ of character," and they therefore exercise no
arresting witness for the King. They are not "abiding" in the Eternal, and
therefore there is no powerful pulse from the Infinite. "Apart from Me ye
can do nothing!"
And my Lord needs me. For the vine has need of the branch! The vine
expresses itself in the branch, and comes to manifestation in leaf, and
flower, and fruit. And my Lord would manifest Himself in me, and cause my
branch to be heavy with the glorious fruits of His grace. And if I deprive
Him of the branch, and deny Him this means of expression, I am "limiting
the Holy One of Israel." "My son, give Me thine heart!"
Lord, help me to abide in Thee! Save me from the follies of a fatal
independence! Good Lord, "Abide in me."