{"id":270,"date":"2023-08-23T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=270&2023"},"modified":"2023-08-21T18:00:19","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T00:00:19","slug":"fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/","title":{"rendered":"Fruitful or Fruitless: John 15:1-17"},"content":{"rendered":"
Focus Passage: John 15:1-17 (NIrV)<\/div>

1\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cI am the true vine. My Father is the gardener.\u00a02\u00a0<\/sup>He cuts off every branch joined to me that does not bear fruit. He trims every branch that does bear fruit. Then it will bear even more fruit.<\/p>\r\n

3\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cYou are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.\u00a04\u00a0<\/sup>Remain joined to me, and I will remain joined to you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain joined to the vine. In the same way, you can\u2019t bear fruit unless you remain joined to me.<\/p>\r\n

5\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cI am the vine. You are the branches. If anyone remains joined to me, and I to him, he will bear a lot of fruit. You can\u2019t do anything without me.\u00a06\u00a0<\/sup>If anyone does not remain joined to me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and dries up. Branches like those are picked up. They are thrown into the fire and burned.<\/p>\r\n

7\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cIf you remain joined to me and my words remain in you, ask for anything you wish. And it will be given to you.8\u00a0<\/sup>When you bear a lot of fruit, it brings glory to my Father. It shows that you are my disciples.<\/p>\r\n

9\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cJust as the Father has loved me, I have loved you. Now remain in my love.\u00a010\u00a0<\/sup>If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love. In the same way, I have obeyed my Father\u2019s commands and remain in his love.\u00a011\u00a0<\/sup>I have told you this so that my joy will be in you. I also want your joy to be complete.<\/p>\r\n

12\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cHere is my command. Love each other, just as I have loved you.\u00a013\u00a0<\/sup>No one has greater love than the one who gives his life for his friends.\u00a014\u00a0<\/sup>You are my friends if you do what I command.<\/p>\r\n

15\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cI do not call you servants anymore. Servants do not know their master\u2019s business. Instead, I have called you friends. I have told you everything I learned from my Father.<\/p>\r\n

16\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cYou did not choose me. Instead, I chose you. I appointed you to go and bear fruit. It is fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you anything you ask for in my name.<\/p>\r\n

17\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cHere is my command. Love each other.<\/p>\r\n

Read John 15:1-17<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n

Have you ever pruned or witnessed someone pruning a grapevine or a tree?<\/em><\/p>\r\n

I have not; however, what I read in the first few verses in this passage sounds a lot like the pruning process. Jesus tells us that God is like a gardener, and He cuts off all the branches that don\u2019t bear fruit, and He trims the branches that do bear fruit (verse 2).<\/em> Both stages involve removing parts of the vine.<\/p>\r\n

This is an interesting two step process:<\/p>\r\n

    \r\n

  1. First, God cuts off all the \u201cdead\u201d branches \u2013 because whether a branch is literally dead or just not bearing fruit, it is not being useful to the tree\/vine. It is taking up space and light that could be better used by a \u201cfruit-producing\u201d branch.<\/p><\/li>\r\n

  2. Secondly, God trims the branches that do bear fruit. This is interesting, since one might think that if a vine is producing fruit, we should leave it alone so it can continue. But this isn\u2019t God\u2019s way. Trimming branches that are bearing fruit is like waking them up to produce more. Not only does trimming take and help optimize the branch\u2019s fruit potential, but it also keeps the branch from \u201cgetting lazy\u201d.<\/p><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    When God has cut off a branch, it is like He is removing a large portion and saying that it is not salvageable, but when God trims a branch, He is working to remove all the clutter and distractions in order to allow that branch to be even more fruitful. Cutting off branches is painful, but necessary for the vine as a whole. Trimming branches, while still painful for the branch, is helpful because it lets the branch know there is potential to be even better.<\/p>\r\n

    Which then makes me wonder: what is the theme or deeper meaning that Jesus is saying in this metaphor?<\/p>\r\n

    He opens this passage by saying it: \u201cI am the true vine.<\/strong>\u201d Jesus is talking about Himself, and those who are connected to Him \u2013 we might even call them \u201cChristians\u201d.<\/p>\r\n

    So if God the Father (a.k.a. the Gardener)<\/em> is in the pruning business, where does that leave you and me? This passage makes it clear that there are two types of removal that will happen, and only one test determining which removal will take place: The unfruitful branches are \u201ccut off\u201d, while the fruitful ones are \u201ctrimmed\u201d.<\/p>\r\n

    God\u2019s cutting away has a focus. The focus is on keeping the vine alive and well. If one of us is pulling away from Jesus, or is not interested in \u201cbeing fruitful\u201d (which we could call sharing Jesus and\/or showing the \u201cfruits of the Spirit\u201d in our lives), then there will be a point where they will be \u201ccut off\u201d from the vine.<\/p>\r\n

    God\u2019s trimming also has a focus. The focus of His trimming is to make those who are already producing fruit have the ability to be even more fruitful. This could be removing unproductive areas of our lives, bad habits, trivial hobbies, or simply clearing out space for us to be able to see our true focus in life.<\/p>\r\n

    When God removes something, there is always a purpose: the health of the \u201ctrue Vine\u201d. When we understand that God is going to be taking an interest in our lives as branches on that vine, will He find us being fruitful (and trim off the excess), or will He find us dead or fruitless and cut us off?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

    The choice is ours to make.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

    This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p>

    Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Have you ever pruned or witnessed someone pruning a grapevine or a tree? I have not; however, what I read in the first few verses in this passage sounds a lot like the pruning process. Jesus tells us that God is like a gardener, and He cuts off all the branches that don\u2019t bear fruit, […]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[2],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"\nFruitful or Fruitless: John 15:1-17 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fruitful or Fruitless: John 15:1-17 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Have you ever pruned or witnessed someone pruning a grapevine or a tree? I have not; however, what I read in the first few verses in this passage sounds a lot like the pruning process. Jesus tells us that God is like a gardener, and He cuts off all the branches that don\u2019t bear fruit, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-23T09:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cam\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"headline\":\"Fruitful or Fruitless: John 15:1-17\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-23T09:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/\"},\"wordCount\":1039,\"articleSection\":[\"Written Journal Entries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/\",\"name\":\"Fruitful or Fruitless: John 15:1-17 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-23T09:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fruitful or Fruitless: John 15:1-17\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/\",\"name\":\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"description\":\"Your Life. God's Truth. His Way.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\",\"name\":\"Cam\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Cam\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fruitful or Fruitless: John 15:1-17 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fruitful or Fruitless: John 15:1-17 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","og_description":"Have you ever pruned or witnessed someone pruning a grapevine or a tree? I have not; however, what I read in the first few verses in this passage sounds a lot like the pruning process. Jesus tells us that God is like a gardener, and He cuts off all the branches that don\u2019t bear fruit, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/","og_site_name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/","article_published_time":"2023-08-23T09:00:00+00:00","author":"Cam","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@godstruthhisway","twitter_site":"@godstruthhisway","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/"},"author":{"name":"Cam","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"headline":"Fruitful or Fruitless: John 15:1-17","datePublished":"2023-08-23T09:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/"},"wordCount":1039,"articleSection":["Written Journal Entries"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/","name":"Fruitful or Fruitless: John 15:1-17 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-08-23T09:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/fruitful-or-fruitless-john-15-1-17\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fruitful or Fruitless: John 15:1-17"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/","name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","description":"Your Life. God's Truth. His Way.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3","name":"Cam","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","caption":"Cam"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}