Staying connected to the Lifegiver

I have this tree in my backyard that is essentially dead. Hudson picks at it, I could probably kick it over as its rotting out, and despite how bad its trunk looks there are a number of branches that have these beautiful pink blooms. I've often scratched my head about these branches and how its even possible that they are blooming when they are connected to a trunk that looks as if it died years ago.

What I've often had to remember is the blooms on those branches don't come from the connection to the base, but the connection to the roots. If the branches were connected just to the base they would rot just as it has. You see its the roots that provide the life and blooms of the branches. The branches are alive because they are connected to something that provides life.

That old tree is a wonderful picture of Jesus' point in John 15 and the idea of abiding in Christ.

Often times I may attempt to be good, or do things that are righteous, but the truth of the matter is that "apart from Him I can do nothing," on my own I'm like that old tree trunk that is slowly dying, but having come to Christ and being connected to Him, as I maintain that union and connection with Him fruit is produced in my life.

Some branches on that old tree have more blooms than others, because their connection to the root is stronger than others. In the same way sometimes I'm truly abiding in Christ, sometimes I kind of am, and at other times I'm not. Jesus' heart in that passage is that all of his followers would enjoy the sweetness of abiding in Him fully and bear the fruits that others may see.