Seeking The True Vine
When reflecting on what the Lord was wanting me to write, I soon remembered my freshman year of college…and boy was it a crazy time!
I started my year off in college thinking this is going to be exactly like the movies and how everyone has chalked it up to be. I soon realized this was not the case. My six best friends from high school were now spread out all across the country, I had a long-distance boyfriend, I had a hard time adjusting to being independent, I was missing home, and on top of all of that I had never felt more alone. To say that freshman year was hard would be an understatement but let me tell you I have never grown more as a person. God helped me grow and experience the uncomfy to help me realize my true need for Him. He taught me what it is like to depend on my Father and to understand that I was not designed to “have it all figured out” or to be able to do it on my own…To completely surrender to the Lord is to really live and it starts by understanding that you are in desperate need of a Savior.
One of the biggest things I have learned in my journey through college and my journey with the Lord is that it’s only a priority if you make it one. AND WHEN YOU DO IT IS WORTH IT!!!! There is so much fruit that God chooses to reveal right before your eyes. Everyone talks about how college is the first time where you make faith your own and they aren’t wrong. I think the thing we struggle with as Christians today is that it’s “Jesus + something else,” that’s what we need. I hate to tell you that this is not going to help you be obedient to what He has planned for you. IT'S ONLY JESUS! He is the one who did something about your sin. There is nothing that you or I did to deserve His love. He made a way when there was no way, so that we might come to Him! And why would we not give Him everything? He gave everything for us. It only makes sense that we should want to give everything we have to Him. Jesus wants every part of us. The good parts: our gifts, talents, our love, relationships, our victories, our praises. He also wants the not-so-good as well: the envy, jealousy, lies, immorality, slander, etc. He wants to know all these parts about us because He can do something about them!
The way I like to think of my life is that it’s a solar system. Many would think that I would put myself as the center of the sun and have the rest of the planets (all the different activities we are in) revolve around me. But the way that I love to see it is that Jesus is the sun. He is in the middle and I have the wonderful opportunity for Jesus to innervate all of my different activities. He’s not just one of the planets out floating around with the rest, but He is the core, the center, where true life begins. Jesus should touch every aspect of your life. He wants and desires for you to include Him in each and every thing you do. Going to practice? How can you show Jesus to your teammates today? Eating dinner? Thank God for the meal that He has given you and how it will nourish your body. Taking a test? Lord, thank you for the opportunity to be in school, and please remind me that my worth is not in my grades. These little reminders help me to open my eyes to see Jesus all around me and to see the bigger picture sometimes!
John 15: 4-5, “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. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” I encourage you to pray and ask the Lord to help you abide in the plans that He has set before you and lean not on your own understanding. For He is the true vine and He is where we find life and have it abundantly.
In order to live our lives in accordance with Him we need the Holy Spirit to guide us each and every day. I pray that the Lord would use these words to check your heart and help you reflect on where you are at with the Lord. I pray whatever plans you are trying to hang on to or trying to make it fit into your life, give those to the Lord. For He wants to know your desires and He has great plans for you if you will choose to surrender and trust Him TODAY. You’ll never regret following what Jesus has for you. WALKING WITH JESUS IS NEVER EASY, BUT ALWAYS WORTH IT! I hope these words encourage you!