In Jesus’ day, Israelites often pictured themselves as vines in a vineyard God tended (cf. Psalm 80:8-18, Isaiah 5:1-7). Jesus adapted and expanded that image. When his followers stayed united to him like branches to a vine, Jesus said, they would love each other as he loved them. This sermon series asks how you will measure your life. Jesus suggested that the answer is simple (but not easy): measure it the way God does. Produce fruit that brings glory to God.

• Scholar William Barclay said some of Jesus’ followers “are lovely fruit-bearing branches of himself; others are useless because they bear no fruit. Who was Jesus thinking of when he spoke of the fruitless branches? ... He was thinking of Christians whose Christianity consisted of profession without practice, words without deeds; he was thinking of Christians who were useless branches, all leaves and no fruit.” Spend some time in prayer today asking God to guide you in bearing fruit, perhaps in an area where your spiritual life to date has been mostly leaves.