1014 Who Our Life Is For - John 15:1

What is your purpose?   "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser." John 15:1   Do you wonder about your purpose? Have you discovered your purpose? Based on this analogy, we bear fruit for the vinedresser. What does that mean to you?   We spoke yesterday about how our life comes to us from the vine and Jesus says here that he is the true vine. Jews thought of Israel as the vine and Jesus upset that idea.   God is the vinedresser. Think a bit about the vinedresser or gardener. The gardener is the one who chooses what is planted. If nothing grows, that's on the gardener. If there is a great harvest from the garden or the vine, the gardener gets the credit. He's the one doing the work. He's the one tending and pulling weeds and pruning and watering. The work is on the gardener or the vinedresser and the outcome is his.   So where does our purpose come from? It doesn't come from inside of us at all. It comes from the outside. You were created for a purpose by a Creator. Notice how he is doing the work and he gets the results.   I'm so money focused. As I enter my 4th quarter, I confess that I worry about money, how much things cost and whether or not Vicky and I will have enough. But if God is the vinedresser, and the fruit isn't money, then what am I obsessing about? He says all throughout scripture, even later in this chapter, that he will provide. That makes me free to make a difference. I'm not free to not earn. I'm not free to consume more than I produce. We live in a free market world. But I'm in control of less than I think in the overall scheme of things. My purpose came from God.   Today, let's focus our life on God. What can we do for our family and the people we interact with today. Jesus came to serve others.   Do you want to work on this more? Join our online community at www.FollowerOfOne.org