SLOW: THE WORD

THE PRAYER          

• Find a quiet space.          
• Breathe deeply and recognise God with you in this moment.         
• When you are ready, speak to God about this time together.         
• After you've finished praying, go through the following passage a few times slowly and thoughtfully (preferably out loud).     
• Allow God to meet you in these words.

God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I’m an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’m never out of your sight. Amen. Psalm 139: 1-3 (MSG)

THE FIRST READING

Read this passage slowly (preferably out loud) as you allow God to meet you in these words. Pay attention to anything God might be saying as you do.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:1-5 (ESV)

RESPONSE

Take some time to respond (write down, draw, pray, etc.) to God’s prompting in the first reading of the passage. What is he highlighting and saying to you through this?

THE SECOND READING

Read the passage again (slowly and preferably out loud) through the “lens” of what The Spirit highlighted in the first reading. Listen for anything else the Spirit might be saying.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:1-5 (ESV)

THE REFLECTION

Fear is a terrible foundation for spirituality and obligation will never get you as far in your walk with God as gratitude will.

I think this is why Jesus pauses to tell his disciples that they are already clean because of the word that he has spoken to them. It’s a statement that almost seems to interrupt the flow of thought in the passage. It’s as if Jesus senses the tension that the necessary emphasis on fruit is producing in his audience and stops to reassure them.

You are already clean.

Just as this truth was worth the interruption then, it is worth the interruption now. Yes, God is after fruit. Yes, following Jesus means we will need to change. Yes, pruning can hurt and salvation calls us to a kind of death that can be painful and inconvenient. But, our ability to choose any of these things is rooted in one essential truth that sets Jesus apart from every other spirituality in human history.

In Jesus, we are already clean.

In Jesus, we are loved in spite of our failures, not because of our success. Our obedience is a response to acceptance, not an attempt to earn it. Our worship is the overflow of affection, not a cry for attention.

In Jesus, we are already clean.

I know I’m repeating myself, but you really need to hear this. And not just hear it. You need to know it. In the very depths of your soul, to know that Jesus has already spoken a word over you.

Forgiven. Redeemed. Accepted. Loved. Restored. Son. Daughter. Friend.

It is only when these words echo in the depths of our soul that any of us will find the capacity to say an enduring and wholehearted yes to living the story of Jesus.

As you slow down today and recognise the presence of God with you in the person of the Holy Spirit, I pray that your busy world would be interrupted by the unbelievable declaration of your Saviour.

“You are already clean!”

And I pray that these words would unleash explosive gratitude in you. The kind of gratitude that consumes you with a desire to know Jesus and make him known.