Branch Out

John 15:5 "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing"

Have you ever planted a tree? I can remember as a child we had a beautiful tree outside of our house that we all loved. My grandfather randomly cut it down and I was so upset. A few days or weeks later my elementary school gave us trees to take home; of course, I planted that tree in the same exact spot and watched it grow. The tree that I planted was a piece of a bigger tree. With the strength and nutrients of the bigger tree my small piece was able to be planted and branch out on it's own; however, that big tree will always be the foundation of the small tree. Without the support and strength of the bigger tree my small piece would not have been able to grow and bear fruit.

This is a metaphor of our spiritual lives. Without the foundation that is Holy Spirit we would be nothing. We would lack the ability to grow spiritually and bear good fruit (the fruits of the Spirit). While walking in the Spirit we should change daily (for better). Just as a tree grows daily, beyond the sight of the naked eye, so should we. Trees grow up and out. They reach higher heights every day so why shouldn't we?

Growth comes from being nurtured, fed. Just as babies start out having to be fed by their parents we start out having to be fed spiritually. Eventually, babies mature enough to be able to feed themselves. Although the parents provide and prepare the food it is up to the child to consume it. The demand for food increases as the child matures. Were we not all once babes in Christ? Remember in the beginning when the food, that is the Word, came to you with little or no effort on your part? There will come a time when you have fend for yourself. Does that seem frightening? Are you afraid to branch out in fear of not being able to feed yourself. At some point you will have to branch out ( if you haven't already) to reach higher heights spiritually. You will have to read the Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to interpret it for you, you'll be your own prayer warrior, you'll lead your own Bible Study, and etc.

How will I know the right time to branch out? Ask yourself these two questions: Has God been increasingly "slow" to answer? Is He already completely silent? If God has been increasingly "slow" to answer perhaps He's pushing you out of the nest; teaching you to feed yourself. If God has gone completely silent He definitely wants you to do it on your own. These are good signs. It shows that God now trusts you to make decisions based off the foundation that He has laid within you. If it is our ultimate goal to be more Christ-like in our thinking and our being then we should be able to make trivial decisions without going to Him in prayer or fasting. We reserve those things for the bigger, more difficult things to come. So, branch out and learn to see yourself as God sees you. Strengthen your branch so that one day you can be the strength and support of another fruit bearing branch.