A drive through the Swan Valley at present reveals a plethora of colours as autumn bites turning the lush green vine canopy into an array of red, yellow, orange, maroon and  every colour in between.
Yet these vines are going off to a long winter sleep… looking quite dormant, even dead in the meantime.  That’s not how it is with life on the vine of Christ.  Continually as we remain in him he remains in us helping us to bear fruit all year round.  What’s more, the Father carefully prunes us to be even more fruitful (John 15:1-2).  Sometimes we get all weighed down thinking it is up to us to keep producing fruit for the Lord. No!  What Jesus says is: ‘I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a person remains in me and I in them they will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing!’ (John 15:5)  And so we thank God for Jesus our vine and get on with living in him (eg. faith, trust, prayer, turning worry over to him), and producing fruit to his glory!