Know the True Vine to Avoid Deception

 by Barbara Latta

Jesus used the analogy of vines and branches to teach believers about our relationship with the Father through the Son.

The agricultural society of biblical times understood Jesus’ comparison because they lived a planting and harvest lifestyle. Those of us who do not live on farms must delve a little deeper into the workings of seeds and growth to get the true meaning of Jesus’ message.

A visit to a friend’s farm showed us how large fruit vines can grow. Small, curly branches reached toward the sky hiding the larger stems and growth underneath. The aged vine had grown thick and woody like a tree trunk. Roots penetrated deep into the earth sucking up the moisture from the soil to nourish the branches.

I am the true vine… (John 15:1).

If Jesus is the true vine, there must be false ones.  Everything God does satan tries to distort. He uses small elements of truth to make the lie appealing. Certain plants mislead us because they imitate other varieties. Vines such as poison ivy can have the appearance of a house plant, yet this wild one is harmful.

Vines grow on trees behind our house that look like muscadine leaves, yet they do not produce fruit. If we tried to eat these leaves, they wouldn’t give us any nourishment and could be harmful.

We must know the true vine to avoid deception.

What are some false vines offered in life?

False religion – Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and any other manmade religion that depends on man’s
works for approval from the god of their belief.

New Age religion – elevates humanity as a replacement for the real God.

Political correctness – this becomes a religion to certain groups who live by the approval of society rather than the approval of God. Following this philosophy results in acceptance of evolution, atheism, homosexual lifestyles and devaluing of humanity through abortion and euthanasia.

Peer pressure – accepting advise and opinions of others, even if well-intended, can still be misleading, thus producing a false vine.

Jesus is the truth, and He leads us into all truth. To know the truth, we abide. The false vines of religion, political correctness and peer pressure can be attractive because they include acceptance from others and can produce success in certain areas of life for a season.

 But they are still death because eating from those vines separate us from God.

 Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day and talked with Him. They should have been familiar enough with their Creator to know what He said was true so when something else was introduced to them, they would know it was a lie. But they must not have been abiding with God the way they should have. They fed on a false vine and died.

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing (John 15:5).

When we remain connected to the vine of Christ’s love we will have:

• Ability to receive the Holy Spirit (John 16:7).
• Knowledge of truth (John 16:13)
• Access to ask in the name of Christ (John 15:7)
• Peace (John 14:15)
• Love for each other (John 15:12-14)

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). No other vine can do that. That’s why they are false.

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