Being faithful is not about what we do.  It’s about who we are.  It’s about how we are planted. It’s about where the roots are.

CS Lewis once said “No man nows how very evil he is until he has tried very hard to be good.”  There’s a lot of truth to that statement.  All of us that follow Christ want to be good. We want to do right. We want to grow. We want to be faithful. We want to see good things happen.

And, so, we try to be good.

And, we find ourselves failing. We find ourselves falling. We find that it’s not working.

So, we try harder.

And it still doesn’t work.

What do we do?

Today, Jesus tells us the one thing that we must do.  Listen to what Jesus says in John 15:

Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!

It’s not about what we do. It’s about who we are.  He is the vine. We are the branches.  Our job, our task, it is to stay rooted in Him.  If we stay in Him, He is in us, and He does the work.

He bares the fruit.  He grows us.  He produces fruit.  He makes it all possible.

It’s not about what we “do.”  It’s about who we “are.”  He IS the vine.  We ARE the  branches.

What are we do to?  Stay faithful. Stay close to Him.  Remain in Him.

And, if we remain in Him, He will bear fruit in us.  That’s what vines do.  That’s what we do.  Stay in Him.  He will bare fruit in you.