4月25日
标 题： 常在葡萄树里
经 节： 我是葡萄树，你们是枝子。常在我里面的，我也常在他里面，这人就多结果子；因为离了我，你们就不能做什么。（约翰福音十五章5节）
有些人以为一定要不断努力事奉主，才能够满足神的高标准。耶稣清楚地说明，我们跟祂之间应该是什么关系：祂是葡萄树，是我们生命的源头；我们是枝子，是结果子的地方。当我们得到耶稣的生命，我们的生命自然结出果子。
当我们热诚地为主结果的时候，我们急切地要结果子，而忽略了住在基督里。然而，耶稣说，不是我们的活动结果子，乃是我们与祂的关系结果子。
耶稣慎重地警告门徒，祂要他们小心自己远离与祂的亲密关系。若是如此，他们会发现自己停止结有意义的果子。他们可能为了神的国度卯足全力，却停止与神创建亲密的关系，他们发现自己不过是不结果子的枝子。耶稣行过最引人注目的一件事，是咒诅一棵不结实的无花果树（马可福音十一：14）。你是舒适地住在基督里，还是没耐性、马不停蹄地参与许多活动？如果你与耶稣维持稳固的关系，大丰收是自然的结果。
Abide in the Vine
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in
him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
There are those who feel that they must be constantly laboring for the
Lord in order to meet God’s high standards. Jesus gave a clear picture of what
our relationship to Him ought to be like. He is the vine, the source of our
life. We are the branches, the place_ where fruit is produced. As we receive
life from Christ, the natural, inevitable result is that fruit is produced in
our lives.
In our zeal to produce “results” for our Lord, we sometimes become so
intent on fruit production that we neglect abiding in Christ. We may feel that
“abiding” is not as productive or that it takes too much time away from our
fruit production. Yet Jesus said that it is not our activity that produces
fruit, it is our relationship with Him. Jesus gave an important warning to His
disciples. He cautioned that if they ever attempted to live their Christian
life apart from an intimate relationship with Him, they would discover that
they ceased to produce any significant results. They might exert great effort
for the kingdom of God, yet when they stopped to account for their lives, they
would find only barrenness. One of the most dramatic acts Jesus ever performed
was cursing a fig tree that had failed to produce fruit (Mark 11:14). Are you
comfortable in abiding, or are you impatient to be engaged in activity? If you
will remain steadfastly in fellowship with Jesus, a great harvest will be the
natural by-product.
