You’ve Got One Job: Stay Connected to Jesus

There are a thousand things competing for your attention every day.

Your career.

Your marriage.

Your kids.

Your health.

Your finances.

Your goals.

Your phone.

Even your ministry.

But according to Jesus, there’s one thing you absolutely cannot neglect:

Your connection with him.

In John 15, Jesus gives one of the simplest and most powerful pictures of the Christian life:

“I am the vine; you are the branches.”

In this episode of the Rob Skinner Podcast, Rob explores why successful people can be especially vulnerable to spiritual self-reliance, why God sometimes prunes the people he loves, and how someone can look spiritually alive on the outside while slowly drying up inside.

And it all comes down to one simple phrase:

You’ve got one job: remain.

Are You Plugged In?

Rob rents out his former home in Tucson, Arizona. Every so often, a guest sends him a message:

“The hot tub isn’t working.”

“The jets won’t turn on.”

“It’s not getting hot.”

“We’ve pushed every button.”

Rob usually responds with one question:

“Is it plugged in?”

A few minutes of silence.

Then:

“Never mind.”

Nothing was wrong with the hot tub.

Nothing was wrong with the heater.

Nothing was wrong with the jets.

It simply wasn’t connected to its source of power.

And that can describe our spiritual lives.

We push buttons.

We try harder.

Work more.

Make more money.

Improve our marriages.

Fix our kids.

Grow our ministries.

Accomplish another goal.

But Jesus asks a more fundamental question:

Are you connected to me?

You can be incredibly busy and spiritually disconnected.

You can even be busy doing things for Jesus while becoming disconnected from Jesus.

1. Let the Gardener Prune You

Jesus says:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.” — John 15:1

Then he says something surprising:

Every branch that bears fruit, God prunes so that it can become even more fruitful.

God prunes fruitful people.

We sometimes assume that if we’re following God, everything should start going our way.

Jesus says otherwise.

Sometimes following God means getting cut.

A door closes.

A relationship doesn’t work out.

Something you desperately wanted doesn’t happen.

God’s Word exposes pride, selfishness, greed, impurity or your need for control.

But there’s a huge difference between destruction and pruning.

Destruction has no future in mind.

Pruning is all about the future.

Instead of immediately asking, “What’s gone wrong?” try asking:

“God, what are you trying to cut out of me?”

And:

“What are you trying to grow in me?”

Don’t waste your pruning.

Let the Gardener work.

2. You’ve Got One Job: Remain

This is the heart of John 15.

Jesus repeatedly says:

Remain.

Stay connected.

Stay close.

Make your home in me.

Don’t drift away.

A branch doesn’t wake up thinking:

“How am I going to manufacture grapes today?”

It doesn’t hustle.

It doesn’t compare itself with the branch next to it.

It doesn’t create a five-step productivity plan.

It remains connected to the vine.

Life flows from the vine into the branch.

Eventually, fruit appears.

Sometimes we make Christianity far more complicated than Jesus did:

Try harder.

Do more.

Be better.

Achieve more.

Jesus says:

Remain in me.

Christianity isn’t merely believing facts about Jesus.

It’s Christ living in you and through you.

It’s dependence.

Relationship.

Connection.

You Can Look Alive While Drying Up Inside

Here’s the sobering part.

When you cut a branch off a tree, it doesn’t immediately look dead.

For a while, the leaves remain green.

Put it beside a connected branch and you may not even see a difference.

But something fundamental has already happened.

It has been disconnected from its source of life.

The same thing can happen spiritually.

You can still:

Go to church.

Sing the songs.

Know your Bible.

Lead a small group.

Preach sermons.

Have decades of Christian experience.

You can look green on the outside while slowly drying up inside.

Jesus isn’t asking:

“Were you connected to me once?”

He’s asking:

“Are you remaining in me now?”

Don’t live off your baptism.

Don’t live off what you did ten years ago.

Don’t live off last year’s faith.

Ask:

How is my relationship with Jesus today?

3. Connected People Bear Fruit

Jesus says:

“If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”

Notice the order.

Jesus doesn’t say:

“Produce enough fruit, then I’ll accept you.”

He says:

Remain—and fruit will come.

Connection comes before production.

Roots come before fruit.

What does that fruit look like?

Changed character.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Repentance.

Real connection produces real change.

Obedience.

Jesus changes how we handle our marriages, money, time, sexuality, forgiveness, service and gifts.

And finally:

Spiritual impact.

Fruit reproduces.

Spiritually fruitful people help other people find Jesus.

We share our faith.

Love people.

Serve.

Study the Bible with people.

Help people become disciples.

Multiply disciples, leaders and churches.

And ultimately, the fruit points back to the vine.

It isn’t:

“Look how impressive I am.”

It’s:

“Look what God can do.”

So, Are You Plugged In?

Your marriage matters.

Your family matters.

Your career matters.

Your finances matter.

Your health matters.

Your ministry matters.

Your goals matter.

But there’s one thing you cannot neglect:

Your connection with Jesus.

So ask yourself:

Am I plugged in?

Remember the three lessons of John 15:

1. Let the Gardener prune you.

2. You’ve got one job: remain.

3. Connected people bear fruit.

When you’re successful—remain.

When you’re struggling—remain.

When God is pruning you—remain.

When life gets busy—remain.

When you’re discouraged—remain.

When everything is going wonderfully—remain.

The branch has one job.

Remain.

And Jesus promises:

“If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”

Make this life count.

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