To be effective workers in the kingdom of God we must stay connected to the Vine.  How do we do this?  How do we tap in to God?  How do we get good results in the things we are seeking favor?  Let me give some suggestions.

             For St. Paul the way we stay connected is living by faith.  The just shall live by faith. (Rm1:17; Gal3:11; Heb 10:38)  We must be born again and we must be led of the Spirit.  They that are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. (Rm8)  That means we are free from condemnation.  We are free from ritual, rules, and tradition.  We walk in the Spirit and do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. (Gal5)  So if we are dead in our transgressions and sin, if we follow the flesh and not the Spirit, if we live in judgment, fear, and condemnation, we will not be connected to the Vine.

            For St. James the way we stay connected to the Vine is being a doer of the word and not a hearer only.  Faith, without works, is dead and unless we have a living and active faith, we are not connected to the Vine.  It is like looking in a mirror and forgetting what you look like.  We see ourselves in the word and Jesus is the Word, and as we see ourselves we must respond.  So the more we know the word of God and the more we respond to what we know, the better we are at staying connected to the Vine.  Without knowledge of the word of God, we don’t know Jesus the Word, and we cannot hear from him.

            Branches and vines are a part of nature.  Jesus spent a good deal of his time with nature.  He would go to the mountains and pray.  He would preach from a boat on a lake.  He prayed in the Mount of Olives.  Spend time with nature.  Spend time in stillness and solitude.  Spend time with God.  Spend time.  To stay connected to the Vine you must spend time with Him.  The cares of the world and the lust of other things will choke the word and you will not bear fruit.  Prayer is important to stay connected.  Be people of prayer. 

            For St. Peter the trial of our faith is much more precious than gold that perishes.  Staying connected to the vine means enduring trials and tribulations.  If we receive the word with joy but when trials come, we abandon our faith, we lose our connection with God.  We must endure suffering as a soldier of Christ.  We must maintain our relationship with God by confessing his word when we are challenged by sickness, persecution, or poverty and lack.  Jesus tells us that unless we put God’s word into practice, when the storms of life hit home, our house will perish being built on sand.  But if we put God’s word into practice, our house will be built on a rock and we will not perish and our house will stand.