Getting the junk out

Getting rid of the junk

When you’re sick, your body does its best to get rid of the junk, the bad stuff. It’s not fun to throw up or cough. It’s not pleasant to sneeze or sweat uncontrollably. But those are all helpful mechanisms that our body uses to try and get us back to the place we were created to be. Fully-functioning, healthy, productive, people.

As I was thinking about that this week, I saw Jesus’ gardening analogy from John 15:4-6, in a new light.

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.”

Missing the Point

That last verse used to scare me. I would always wonder if I was being fruitful enough, so that I would not get cut off from the vine and burned in a pile. I would worry, try harder, and be more aware when my flesh won out, and I failed. It felt like a no-win battle to be good enough to stay connected to the vine. And it was.

I was missing the point.

The Vine-dresser does what our bodies do when we are sick. It gets rid of the bad stuff, so that the rest can be healthy. Thankfully, all my bad stuff has been covered by the blood of Jesus, so I have no need to worry about ‘doing enough.’

Jesus has already done enough.

My job is to remain in Him. What a simple command, that we make so difficult. I can find time to do 100 other things that don’t matter nearly as much, when all I have to do is 1 thing. The best thing. The thing that Mary chose.

“Martha’s sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted…” (Luke 10:39-40)

We can choose to do a lot of healthy things to have a better chance at not getting sick. We can also choose the healthiest thing for our relationship with God. Let’s choose to remain in Him, so that He can do much, in us.

5 things we get by serving others

Jesus instructs us to lead through servant leadership. When we obey His commands there are things that we get out of it. Learn what those are in our free guide.

Download our guide here