For those who don’t know, “The Vine” is an app that allows users with no
other media software or skills to make
short videos on their phones. The videos
upload to social media and automatically play in a loop whenever anyone scrolls
past.
This app has become so popular that it’s birthed a new social slogan: “Do it for the vine!”
When someone yells, “Do it for the vine!” you’re supposed to go crazy for
the next few seconds. They want you to
do something video worthy.
You were going to walk away from the argument because it wasn’t going anywhere
good.
No. Fight instead. Come on.
Do it for the vine.
You were going to bob your head to the music and keep on walking.
No. Pull up your skirt and twerk
instead. Come on.
Do it for the vine.
To “do it for the vine” you have to make a deliberate choice to ACT. You can’t just sit there “for the vine.” You can’t just stand around passively observing
“for the vine.” You have to get up and
with all your energy DO SOMETHING “for the vine.”
Social media has made this call to choice and action a call to
foolishness and self-degradation.
But like many cultural sins, the current trend is a corruption of something
good.
You see, before we had an app for that, Jesus was telling people to “do
it for the Vine.”
In John chapter 15, Jesus said,
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser…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 is the true Vine and He wants us to be a part of Him-----and not a
passive part. The Lord commands the
branches of His Vine to DO something.
But not just any something.
If you are in Christ, if the Lord Jesus is in your heart, if He is Lord
of your life, etc., etc. , then you should produce a certain type of fruit.
John the Baptist called it fruits
worthy of repentance (Matthew 3: 8)
If you have truly repented of your sins and been engrafted into Jesus the
True Vine, then you’ll talk to people as though you have left your sins behind
not like you’re looking forward to sinning more. (
Colossians
4: 6)
If you’ve really received Jesus as your Lord and Savior then you’ll do
your job (whatever that is) as though the integrity of your work was an expression
of worship. (
Ephesians
6: 6, 7)
If you are part of the Jesus Vine for real, then you will live in such a
way that even when surrounded by the darkness of a sinful world, your good
works shine as such a light before people that those who see you give glory to
God.(
Matthew
5: 16)
Speak, and act, and work, and live as though every choice were going to
be played back in a loop for Jesus to watch.
Cause it kinda is.
But I say to you that for every idle word men
may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. (Matthew
12: 34)
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is
cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 7: 19)
What we SAY about ourselves is just the caption we place under the
scene. The truth of where we stem from is
recorded in our actions every day, every moment.
“You will know them by their fruits. Do men
gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” Jesus said. (Matthew 7: 16)
At any given moment, someone may entice you to do something. To show out.
To let go and show off the real you.
Do it for the vine!
But before you decide what to do, ask yourself: Which vine?
Which vine are you part of? Your
fruit will tell.
Which vine defines you? Your
choice will answer.
Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad
tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. …Therefore
by their fruits you will know them. (Matthew 7: 17-20)
Jesus told His disciples, You are
already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and
I in you. (John 15: 3, 4)
He promised that If you abide in
Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be
done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you
will be My disciples. (John 15: 7, 8)
Jesus said that the good that is Him is already in you. Just hold to His Word. Just rest in His
presence.
Jesus said that if you abide in/ find your center in Him & His Word
that you can bear good fruit. Any good
thing you want to accomplish you can do.
If you abide in Christ and in His Word, if you lose yourself and find
yourself in Jesus, then you’ll be able to hear it---- the sound of Jesus
chanting, “Come on, my child. Show them
what you got! Get up. Do your thing. Bear My fruit.”
Do it for The Vine!
(Acknowledgement: This blog post was my wife's idea. God gave her the title and the concept. She told me that I had to write it. The Holy Spirit in us both did the rest.)
---Anderson T. Graves
II is a writer,
community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural
leadership development.
Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of
Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of
the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization
(SAYNO) and director of rural leadership
development for the National Institute for Human Development (
NIHD).
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
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Support by check or money order may be mailed to
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