Growing up, I memorized Scripture through many areas of my life; as part of my homeschool education, in Sunday School, Awana, etc.

I still have many of those Scriptures hidden in my heart, but struggle to call them to memory or even remember where they’re found in the Bible.

When someone begins to quote a Scripture I learned in my youth, I can whisper it along with them once they begin.

In 2024, I completed the Experiencing God study and it changed my life. Truly.

A significant part of that study was the memorization of Scripture. I know how valuable and needful it is to hide God’s Word in our hearts and I was determined to once again try to memorize Scripture.

I am thankful to be able to say, I committed each of the verses from the study to memory and still quote them every day as part of my daily devotions.

The first verse I memorized from that study is found in the Gospel of John, chapter 15, verse 5.

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

This verse is most often shared regarding the fruit that we bring forth as Christians. Yesterday while speaking God’s Word aloud, He spoke a different message to my heart.

When thinking about a vine and its branches, where does it strength lie? In the branches coming from the vine or in the vine that buries deep into the soil where its roots lie?

Branches can break. They can be twisted and turned. Branches simply can not be on their own. They can’t bear the growing or weight of the fruit on their own.

The vine is where the strength and life of the plant is found. Without the strength and nutrients of the vine, there would be no branches.

We are the branches.

When we try to stand on our own, we can and will be twisted and turned. We truly can not stand on our own successfully, just as branches can not. We can not bear the weight of this world or the fruit we so desperately desire to grow alone.

Jesus is the vine.

The strength of the vine is in its roots. That system goes deep and wide. For example, a grapevine’s root system can grow 30 feet deep and span several meters wide in search of water. While most of its roots can be found in the first 3 feet of soil, the entire root system creates a grapevine strong enough to bear both its branches and their fruit.

Jesus’ roots go deeper than we can fathom. He is, was and will forever be. He is the first and the last. He was before anything. You can’t get deeper roots than that. He created them.

Without strength, growth and fruit are not possible. Without strength, branches die.

With Jesus as our vine, He is where our strength is found. Philippians 4:13 tells us what is possible when we tap into the strength He can provide us.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Without Him, we can do nothing. Without strength, life is not possible. 

With Jesus as our vine, He gives life to us. Jesus tells us this himself in John 6:35a and John 7:37b.

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life….

Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

The strength and nutrients we need for this life God has gifted us and called us to all come from Him. Jesus is everything that we need to get through this day and every day hereafter.

The question is will we, the branches, tap into the vine wherein we find all we need to live this life?