Grafted in the Vine

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered.” John 15:5-6

This morning I learned about the most fascinating process called grafting. At the base of every leaf there is a bud. This tiny bud has within it’s outer covering ‘memories’ of last year’s fruit and future sweetness for the fruit to be produced for the following year. It holds within itself the quality of what it is come. The vine-dresser cuts out the bud to graft it into the non-bearing part of a root-stock. A small slice is made in that area, creating a ‘wound.’ The tiny bud is placed within the wound and a bonding substance is wrapped around the bud leaving the top of it peeking out. The binder prevents the sap, also called the blood, from leaking out and losing its life source. From that small grafted bud, a new branch will grow. In essence, since the bud is grafted into the vine that is where it abides receiving it's life source. 

What a beautiful analogy for our lives once we are cut away from the world and grafted into the true Vine for spiritual growth and future fruitfulness. Just like the root-stock, Jesus was ‘wounded’ and by His sacrifice He created a place for us in which to be grafted in Him. We are all bound by the blood of the cross, and through our abiding in Him we are created to branch out and bear fruit. When we abide in Him, we carry within us memories of the past faithfulness and promises of future fruitfulness just like the small bud carries. Through our abiding in Him, we are transformed from ‘glory to glory’…from experience to experience…from tests to testimonies. Each experience ushers in a greater understanding of the embodiment of Christ. That understanding is cumulative and progressive, building on past revelations and providing the sweetness of future revelations.  We carry within us the quality of Christ.  The more we abide in Him the stronger our branches will grow and the sweeter our fruitfulness will be.

“And we all…are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Co 3:16-18