Oh No!

I got a great object lesson yesterday, even if it meant a lot of unexpected hard work. My neighbor behind us has a huge globe willow. It's a great looking tree which gives us a lot of shade in the evenings. Unfortunately last night one of its major limbs broke off and ended up in our back yard. I couldn't believe how big it was and how much tree was in my yard. Thankfully I have a wonderful neighbor who came over with his chainsaw. For the next few hours we cut, chopped up and loaded the tree into trucks. It was amazing to me how such a huge limb could break off, but with the immense weight of all the branches, I doesn't surprise me. But as this limb lay in my yard one thing was obvious. A limb that's not connected to the tree is done with. This limb's life was over. John 15:4 tells us, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me." The same goes for Christians who desire to bear fruit. If they don't have a good relationship with Jesus (the vine), how will they bear fruit? The desire of every Christian should be to bear fruit, so remaining in Jesus is a must. So if you're a Christian, don't be like the tree last night that became separated from the tree :)