“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.Verse 2. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
If Jesus, the vine, is connected to the Father, then we, the branches, must be connected to Jesus in order to have access to God. Jesus says, "every branch IN ME..." In other words, people might claim to be Christians or followers of Christ, but unless they bear fruit, they are worthless. Bearing fruit is simply backing up what you claim with actions. "Walk the talk" or "practice what you preach" if you will.
Therefore, God cuts off those barren branches as they are of no use to Him. I am reminded of Matthew 7:21 - " “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Believing in Christ isn't enough. Claiming to know Christ isn't enough. We have to LIVE Christ. That is, we have to be directly and consistently connected to Jesus, and prove it with our actions. The thought of being cut off from Jesus is a horrible one! In Psalm 51:11, David cries out to the LORD, "Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me." There is no greater punishment than to be separated from Christ.
God doesn't just want us to bear a tiny amount of fruit. He wants us to bear as much fruit as we possibly can. From this verse, I see two ways that He helps us to bear more fruit. First, as mentioned previously, He cuts off branches that do not bear fruit. This does not just affect those worthless branches; it also affects the branches that are bearing fruit. Without the "dead weight" the fruit-bearing branches are able to receive more water, nutrients and sunlight, resulting in more fruit production. I've seen this played out in my life. There has been "dead weight" in my life, people around me that did not bear fruit, and it affected me. Without them, I can see that I am bearing more fruit now. If there are people in your life that hinder your walk, I guarantee that if you remove them from your life, your fruitfulness will increase.
The second way that God helps us to bear more fruit is by pruning or cleaning us. He makes sure we are well-prepared. He purifies us. God prunes us through situations and people in our lives. Pruning is usually a life-long process. You could also call it sanctification, which is the process of being made holy. It seems obvious that as we are pruned, we would become even more fruitful.
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