The Story of the Vine, the Gardener and Me

Without the Vine, the Branch can have no life. Without the Branch, the Vine is alone with the Soil, the Air, the Water and the Gardener. There is no fruit without the Branch. Without the Vine, the Branch can have no life. This is a strange symbiosis that leads me to see the value of one lonely branch under the fierce pruning shears of the Gardener.

Jesus said to his disciples:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts away every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit. But he trims clean every branch that does produce fruit, so that it will produce even more fruit. You are already clean because of what I have said to you.

Stay joined to me, and I will stay joined to you. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit unless it stays joined to the vine, you cannot produce fruit unless you stay joined to me. I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit. But you cannot do anything without me. If you don't stay joined to me, you will be thrown away. You will be like dry branches that are gathered up and burned in a fire.