The True Vine

I have been reading the True Vine by Andrew Murray; the theme over and over is "only be a branch." It can be hard at times to figure out what God calls us to do or be. What is my responsibility and what is His? So many times I think I get this mixed up, and begin to think about what I need to do, what I need to be in life, instead of waiting to see what God is doing in my life, and follow Him. I can feel convicted at times, but I think sometimes not enough, because I look at what I am doing, instead of what He is doing. 

Following is hard, especially when you don't know exactly which step to make in life. It is easy to follow Christ when the road is clear, or when you see His steps in front of you, and they are marked out. It becomes difficult when the day is foggy, when there are so many voices competing for my attention, when self wants its way, and not sure if it is God directing or my selfish nature directing me. Something I read today challenged me, it said, "The bottom line is that you either make decisions out of love for others or love for yourself." How many times have I made decisions which seemed to be loving, but was only love for myself. How many times have I looked to serve or help others, when in fact I was only serving my own desires and pleasures? 

This brings me back to the Andrew Murray quote, "only be the branch." He later on says, "The Vine reveals itself within the branch, thence comes the growth and fruit. Christ dwells and works within His branch; only be a branch, waiting on Him to do all, He will be to you the true Vine. The Father Himself, the divine Husbandman, is able to make you a branch worthy of the heavenly Vine. You shall not be disappointed." When we are only being the branch, we don't look around at our situations, circumstances, and issues in life and fret. The branch doesn't worry about how he or she is to grow because they know the nourishment comes from the Vine. The Vine is taking care of the circumstances of life. The Vine is working out the issues we posses. The Vine is working behind the scenes of our difficult situations. When we are only being the branch we lean and depend upon the true Vine, we look for His direction even when the fog is so thick we can see our hand in front of our face. The branch doesn't look to get it's nourishment from other vines when it feels desperate, or when things are not going as we think they should. The branch stays connected to the true Vine, and stays away from those false vines that promise much but deliver little, or no comfort. 

Thinking about this, what Vine are we clinging to today? Are we attaching ourselves to vines that feed us lies about God, or distortions of His truths? Are we feeding off vines that only feed our selfish motives and desires? Or is our nourishment coming from the true Vine of Christ? Do we love others for their good or ours? When I think about the last questions, which is a true indicator of what vine I am attached to today. Do I love others for their good, for their benefit, and their welfare? Am I saying no to what I want and yes to what they need? These are hard questions to ask because so many times we can deceive ourselves into thinking we are caring for others, when we are only caring for ourselves.