branches

In continuing to facilitate a study through David Platt's "Follow Me", I am again reminded that God is Sovereign in all things.
As the new Discipleship season at our church was approaching I was feeling no leading or guidance in which of the studies to take, assuming I would simply default to which ever study my wife decided to take. Until, one evening I received a phone call asking if I could be available to lead this particular study. Never being one to turn down an opportunity to teach, I agreed. Through 2 weeks now, and I am enjoying the words of David Platt, and his teaching.

In this morning's daily study, Platt writes this:
"When we consider what it means to follow Jesus, we typically think in terms of His leading us where He wants us to go. We think of Jesus out in front and us following behind. In our mind's eye there is always a gap between us and Christ- a separation."

Where do we get this imagery from? Are you like me, and when you think of Jesus and His disciples, do you picture a scene similar to Forrest Gump, running across America? A bearded, dirty, white guy out for a run, and a mass of people running behind him? Do you picture yourself in that pack? Are you running hard, trying to catch up to your "Jesus"? Aren't you exhausted?

The words of Jesus, the imagery given by Him, and the writings of the Apostles all point to a radically different picture. They offer us a Jesus calling to Himself all who are weary, heavy laden... offering rest and peace. We find the offer of a yoke that is light, and an abiding love. We find a Jesus who walks with His disciples, who brings them into and through the storms. Ours is not a Christ who runs to the horizon and yells back at us to keep up, He is a rescuing Shepherd that throws the sheep over His shoulders and will carry us home. We are told that we are united to Christ, co-heirs of the promise. Adopted sons of the Father.

To use Platt's example, we are branches of the vine. We are so intimately connected to the life-vein of Christ that we only grow as an outcropping of His life. As a vine branches, it sends itself into action, bringing forth new life as it grows into a branch. As the branch begins to grow, its core remains the vine, and the new life is created. The branch is cared for, pruned, prepared to produce the fruit for which it is intended to produce. The connection is intimate, the life is no longer the pursuit of a branch looking for a vine, it is a vine that has sprung to life in a branch.