Grafted In

Romans 11:17-18
But if some of the branches were broken off, while you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them to share the richness [of the root and sap] of the olive tree….

John 15:5
“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.

One of my first jobs after college was at the California Avocado Commission, where I responded to consumer letters. One of the most frequent questions was, “Can I grow an avocado tree from an avocado pit?” The answer is yes… and no. You can grow a tree, but it’s very unlikely it will bear any fruit. The reason for this is that fruit-bearing avocado trees require the union of two different types of trees. The grower starts with a hardy root stock that will endure changes in weather. When the tree reaches a certain size, the grower cuts off the branches and replaces them with branches from a tree that bears good fruit. The new branches are bound (taped) to the old branch. Before long, the two branches are completely joined, with no sign that they were ever separate. The sap from the roots runs all the way through the original tree and out into the branches, giving them life and allowing them to bear fruit.

My pastor recently used the analogy of a skin graft. When you have a severe injury, surgeons will take a healthy piece of skin from another part of your body and place it over the damaged area. Before long, the skin graft joins with the skin around it, giving it life.

That’s how Christians are supposed to be. When we’re “grafted in” to Christ, His will and desires become our will. His thoughts become our thoughts. We begin doing what He would do if He were still here in the flesh. It doesn’t happen overnight, and for some of us it never quite happens.

I’ll be the first one to admit that there’s a price to pay for this kind of unity. The closer I get to Jesus, the more He changes my desires. It starts with a slight feeling of discomfort about something I’m reading or watching or doing. At that moment, I have to make a decision: either I ignore the discomfort, or I let go of the thing that’s causing it.

If I ignore the discomfort and keep doing what I’ve done in the past, I sacrifice spiritual growth and closeness to God. Sometimes I don’t even notice the change for a few days, but eventually I realize I’m missing something. Some of the spiritual power I long for has slipped away, or I’m not being used as much by the Lord. On the other hand, if I’m sensitive to the Spirit and move away from what caused the discomfort, I realize after a few days that I don’t even miss that thing, and there is always a spiritual reward.

I guess in the end it comes down to this: How much Jesus do we want? How much spiritual power do we want? What are we willing to give up to obtain that power?

Your fellow servant in Christ,
Cathleen