Michelle DeRusha

Every Day Faith. Faith Every Day.

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Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday: The Vine



As Pastor Sara lifts the bread high, the boy in the plaid shorts with the crown of whorled blond hair climbs onto the padded pew. Grabbing his dad’s shirt with one hand, he raises the other hand toward the ceiling, fingers splayed like a small, creamy starfish.

The dad knows what’s next – clearly this is a weekly routine. He lifts the boy until his flip-flops rest on the back of the pew in front of him. Clenching a fist-full of polo shirt, the boy straightens tall and steady, feet firmly planted on the back of the pew, his father’s arm encircling his waist like a lasso.  And then the boy watches, steady and solemn, as Pastor Sara lifts the cup of wine toward the sky.

The little boy with the blond hair knows instinctively what I so often forget. He reaches, he climbs, he clings. He rests steady, comfortable and secure in his father’s arms.

He knows and accepts what I can never seem to remember: that apart from his father, he can do nothing.

“Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. “  (John 15:4)

Welcome to the “Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday” community, a place where we share what we are hearing from God and his Word.

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Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday: A Crowd of Witnesses in Real Life

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jesus said “Abide in Me, in order to bear fruit because with out me you can do nothing.”   Paraphrased a bit.  That was the main verse today at our church also.  The small boy was something I would have loved to watch.  What an illustration!! 

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  2. Growing up, I did not experience the love of an earthly father but I did have loving Uncles to look up to.  We did not have time for play as even as a young child I needed to work.  Now I know my heavenly Father and safely place my trust fully in HIM.

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  3. Michelle. This is so perfect it literally takes my breath away. Thank you so much.

    Our pastor took us in the direction of pruning this morning – not so comfortable for me as abiding. And it took a WHOLE LOT more words for me to go there than you've so tenderly and exquisitely put here. 

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  4. ” apart from his father, he can do nothing”

    So true, yet so easily forgotten!

    Thank you for such a beautiful illustration of our complete dependence on Christ…and of His caring love for us.

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  5. Simple but profound: “apart from
    his father, he can do nothing.” This is a take-away we'll all be carrying with us today. Thanks, Michelle.

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  9. Beautiful! And it took my mind back to my childhood when we children were crammed into adult body behavior. Look at the imagery those adults missed! (And we might have too, without your artist's eye!)

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  12. Love this, Michelle….I think this is why I'm intrigued and enamored with clinging vines. They're yet another camera magnet because that's how I want to live – my life tangled up and clinging to Jesus.

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  14. I love how God uses His Word — my post for here wasn't specifically from the reading at church and then, it was.  The vine I studied on Friday came forth through the Word on Sunday.  It's like He must know or something! 🙂

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  22. So writer's block can produce something after all? Boy I struggled with this one, and ended up chopping it down to almost nothing.  Thanks for your encouragement – I hit publish on this and cringed!

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  27. Oh Robert, my heart goes out to you, my friend. It sounds like a difficult childhoodl. I am glad you had those kind uncles growing up…and even more thankful you have a Father always.

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  29. My pastor said Sunday that he has read that the point where the vine connect to the branch is the strongest point.  That lingered with me and does this image of the vine and the branches.  Now your story added another great image. Thanks Michelle

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