7-3-2024

Good Morning All,

        John 15:4; “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”

      There once was a branch on an apple tree.  It always produced the largest, sweetest apples on the tree.  The apples were always plentiful and easy to reach.  One day a group of moths landed on the branch and began speaking to the branch.  The moths told the branch how important he was.  They told him that the tree would be nothing without him.  No other branch produced as good fruit as he did.  (Meanwhile, the moths laid their eggs on the branch where it was hooked to the tree.)

    The branch began to think that it was very important.  The moths were right, it thought.  None of the other branches produced near the fruit that this branch did.  Without him this tree would not produce much fruit at all.  (Meanwhile, the eggs had hatched, and the larvae were beginning to eat through the bark.)

    So, the branch began to demand that the tree listen to what it wanted.  It wanted to choose what other branches were part of the tree.  It wanted to decide which type of apple it produced.  It demanded to produce apples when it felt like it.  It wanted to go its own way.  It began to think that it didn’t need the tree.  After all, its fruit was the best of the tree.  (Meanwhile, the larvae had burrowed most of the way through the branch.)

    Soon the branch didn’t want to be with the tree.  It even wondered if the tree could possibly survive without the branch being attached.  Then one day a storm came along.  The wind blew harder than ever.  The tree stood tall, and the other branches waved in the wind.  But the branch that had the best apples snapped and fell to the ground.   No big deal though the branch; now we will see who needs who. 

    Soon the leaves on the branch began to wilt.  The apples that were on the branch began to rot.  The branch dried up and soon was tossed in the fireplace to heat the house in the cold of winter.  Meanwhile, the tree stood tall and strong. 

    In the spring, many different branches began to produce large and sweet apples.  The tree stood tall, and the apples were sweet and large on all the branches.  The tree really didn’t need the branch, but the branch became ash without the tree.

    We are the branch.  God feeds and gives us the nourishment to produce fruit.  Think of all the great things that God has given you.  Think of the talents and skills you have; all are gifts from God.  Without God, we are but something to be thrown into the fire.  We need to be connected to God just as the branch needs the tree.  His love and grace are our only hope.

Dearest Father, without you we are lost.  All that we have is from you.  Through you we produce all the fruit that we have.  All that we are, all that we receive, all that there is, is a gift from your benevolent hand.  Guard us with your Spirit.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret