Perhaps we do not give enough thought to what a privilege it is to be connected to Christ. It is the closest of connections possible. Just think about the truth of our text today: "I am the vine, you are the branches" (John 15:5). Does it get any better than this? Permit me to rephrase the words of an old hymn. "What a fellowship, what a joy divine, being a branch connected to the vine!" Who planted the vine? The vineyard owner, God, who is called the gardener, or vine dresser (see v. 1). Who grafted us into the vine as a little branch? Again, it is God, the vine dresser (see Rom. 11:17). Never say, "I'm only a branch." Always be grateful to God that He saw fit to graft you into the Vine and have fellowship with His Only Begotten Son! "For in Him we live and move and have our being."

What does it mean to be a branch? Surely it means that we share the same nature as the vine. I affirm with the apostle Peter that we can be "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet. 1:4). As we grow in Christ we "will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" ( 2 Pet. 1:8). This is why it so important to "abide (remain) in Christ." Spiritual life flows from the vine to the branches. Branches that "abide" will be fruit-bearing branches. If we abide in faithfulness we will abound in fruitfulness! What a priceless privilege it is to be a branch that is part of the Vine!

Chorus: "I am the vine and ye are the branches; I am the vine, be faithful and true; Ask what ye will, your prayer shall be granted; the Father loved me, so I have loved you" (Knowles Shaw).