Cut Off or Pruned?

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

John 15:4

Simply put, Jesus is the vine and we, those who claim to follow Christ, are the branches.  This leaves God as the gardener who prunes and cares for the branches allowing them to be even more fruitful.  Fruitful branches are true believers who live a surrendered life to Christ and in turn, bear much fruit. Those who are unproductive and turn their back on Christ are separated from the vine.  Fruit is not just about winning souls to Christ but it is living out a life that is reflective of the Holy Spirit being alive within us.  Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that the fruit consists of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When the Holy Spirit is within us these character traits can be found because they are the result of a life lived with Christ on the throne. Having the fruit of the Spirit in our life is nothing that we alone can do on our own. It is Christ within us and when we truly know Him, there is evidence in our life that He is the One that we follow and by following Him, we are fulfilling the purpose of the law by loving God and loving man. His presence will then be known in our lives because of the way in which we live and the fruit that our lives produce.