Iron & Altar

"Without me you can do nothing." - John 15:5

Jesus says one word three times in a row. Remain. Remain in me as I remain in you. A branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine. Whoever remains in me will bear much fruit. He never says try. He never says produce. A branch doesn't strain, and its whole job is to stay attached.

A steward's first job is staying attached to the vine.

The third work on the card is Scripture, and John gives an odd line about it. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. The word has already been doing work on you before you noticed. If Scripture is Leaves for you, it might be because you have treated it as information. You know the stories, and you could quote a verse. Remaining is different. It means a verse stays with you through a whole day, and you find yourself still chewing on it in the truck.

Remaining is a matter of small returns, like a verse on the dash of the truck, a psalm read at the red light, or the Gospel on your phone before you get out of the car. None of it looks like much, and it keeps the branch on the vine.

Pruning comes next week, and Jesus says the Father prunes the branches that are already bearing. The work this week is only to see where you are attached.

Brother, most of us are branches that keep trying to be trees. We work harder and pray harder, and a good deal of the strain is a refusal to be attached.

Open the card to the third line. Beside "Scripture," write Fruit, Leaves, or Bare, and then write the last time a verse actually stayed with you for a whole day. Open your Bible to John 15:1-8 and read "remain in me" aloud three times, slowly.

Jesus, you are the vine, and I'm a branch that keeps trying to be a tree. Keep me attached. Amen.