Cornerstone Magazine: Fall 2014 Volume III Issue II | Page 18
Just Mangoes
Sujay Natson ’16
Looking
for
Providence
True Vine
NICK CHUAN
Hey there, my name is Nick. I’m a freshman at Brown
thinking of concentrating in physics and philosophy. I
came from Singapore... Oh right, and I’m a Christian.
Does that sound familiar to you? How many of our
introductions start that way? Is Christianity the core of
our lives with everything else being secondary aspects or
are we first students, citizens, athletes, then Christians?
Here’s what Jesus said in the Book of John:
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
Jesus says that He is the vine; in fact, He says that He is
the “true vine” earlier in the first verse of the chapter. We,
on the other hand, are the branches that sprout from Him.
Do we hold that view? Touch your heart and ask yourself
if Jesus is really your Vine and if you really see yourself
as His branch. Perhaps we see ourselves as the vine and
Him as our branch: just another commitment, just another
intellectual pursuit, just another means for a social circle.
I am not trying to make anyone feel guilty or repentant here;
that is not my goal. I just want to shed some light on how
we actually feel, and juxtapose that to what the Bible tells
us. Who are you? Are you a student who happens to believe
in God, or a Christian who happens to be a student?
Maybe you are not sure if you are His branch, or
if you view Him as your branch. Jesus told of a
simple sign of those who abide in Him: “He who
abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.”
Bearing fruit is not trying harder, nor is it relying on
effort. It is relying on Christ’s strength, allowing the
life of Jesus to come out of you. Let the Vine tell us
what to do, and let Him lead us on our way.
Bearing fruit is not easy. In fact, it is
painful. As Jesus said earlier,
Every branch that bears fruit He prunes,
that it may bear more fruit.
JOHN 15:2
I cannot say I know how plants feel, but pruni