JANUARY 22
GRAFTED INTO THE VINE
“Abide in Me, and I in you. And the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except
it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.” (John 15:4)
All that the Father has put into the Vine, the engrafted branches are to draw
out, as they abide in the Vine. Severed from the Vine we are sure to wither and
fade away, but in abiding in Him we have access to all the resources resident in
the Vine. One may not know at present just what all it means by the word
‘fullness’ but that need not hinder us from saying, “whatever God means by it,
that is what we desire”. Furthermore, since salvation is declared to be “to the
uttermost”, (Heb. 7:25), He will not let us be satisfied with anything less, nor
will He cease His work in us until we have been brought into this full glory in
Him.
The word ‘branch’ used here, from the Greek ‘klema’, means a cutting, a slip.
Same expression used in our grafting today, slips, shoots, or a cutting. Not the
big stiff branches, but those tender little twigs. Even while some would exalt
themselves, heady, high-minded, we need to remember that God is taking His
humble ones, and merging them into one with His fullness. We recognize our
nothingness that we might receive of His all-sufficiency.
Engraft means to insert a cutting or slip into another plant so that a permanent
union is effected. Williams’s translation bears out this thought of UNION, “You
must remain in union with Me and I will remain in union with you. Just as no
branch by itself can bear fruit unless it remains united to the vine, so you
cannot unless you REMAIN IN UNION WITH ME.” It is not some weird relationship
with ‘in and out’ or ‘up and down’ experience, but a permanent union so that the
branch constantly draws the life and vitality of the vine. A union that endures
through all ages to come, a true everlasting life.
O wonder of the ages, O miracle divine,
Each life a new creation when grafted to the Vine.
Ray Prinzing
Sister Doris Prinzing
1130 Allumbaugh St. Apt 257
Boise, Id 83704-8700
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