John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches: He that stays in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit… I saw a little twig scarcely an inch long, so tender an infant hand could break it; rough and unseemly without comeliness, and when I saw it there was no beauty that I should desire it. It said: "If I were comely and beautiful, like those spring flowers I see, I could attract, and please, and fulfil a mission." It said: "If I were like yonder oak or cedar, I could afford shelter to God's weary sheep at noonday, and the fowls of heaven should sing among my branches." It said: "If I were even strong, I might bear some burden, or serve a purpose as a peg, a bolt, or a pin, in God's great building that is going up. But so unsightly, so weak, so small!" A voice said to it: "Abide in Me, and I in you, He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit." And so it rested. It was not long until a glory of leaves crowned it, and in God's time I saw the heavy fruit it bore. Parallel Verses KJV: I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. |
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