Resources > Adventure Link Vintage Faith: Cath Lab Procedures Posted by Rev. Jeff Dixon, Senior Equipping Minister, Covenant Community Church on Aug 30, 2005, 09:15

God is not only interested in Christians who’ve fallen into some unhealthy practices. God is also interested in the Christians who’ve stuck it out in church, who’ve kept up the good works, who’ve taught the classes, studied the courses, given of their time, talents, and treasures ... people like a lot of folks in this room! God keeps working on all of us, the way a vinedresser would continue working with his best vines. If he sees a problem, he’ll repair it!

Jesus said, “every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15:2 HCSB)

If you can picture God as the Great Physician, it shouldn’t be too difficult to imagine God inserting a catheter in a healthy Christian’s heart, looking for problem areas. If a problem is found, the Great Physician will do the same thing a good physician on earth would do. He’ll take whatever action necessary to save a person’s life, even if it requires temporary pain.

From minor treatment to major surgery, God will not simply stand by and watch fruitful Christians do their thing. God will take invasive action even there, pruning, clipping, cleaning, encouraging ... whatever is needed for each branch to produce even more fruit than it is right now.

In the book Case for Faith, Lee Strobel asked author/philosopher Peter Kreeft why God would allow pain in the life of a faithful believer. "Look at it this way," Kreeft said. "Imagine a bear in a trap and a hunter who, out of sympathy, wants to liberate him. He tries to win the bear's confidence, but he can't do it, so he has to shoot the bear full of drugs. The bear, however, thinks this is an attack and that the hunter is trying to kill him. He doesn't realize this is being done out of compassion.

"Then, in order to get the bear out of the trap, the hunter has to push him further into the trap to release the tension on the spring. If the bear were semiconscious at that point, he would be even more convinced that the hunter was his enemy out to cause him suffering and pain. But the bear would be wrong because his understanding is too limited."

Kreeft let the illustration soak in for a moment. "Now," he concluded, "how can anyone be certain that's not an analogy between us and God? I believe God does the same to us sometimes, and we can't comprehend why he does it any more than the bear can understand the motivations of the hunter. As the bear could have trusted the hunter, so we can trust God."

Next, you need to also see that Commitment is the key to maintaining a Christ-like lifestyle.

The last verse to consider is the fourth one.

John 15:4 Remain (abide) in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must (abide) remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain (abide) in me. (HCSB)

The Greek word behind our words “abide,” and “remain” is “meno,” a rather common word. It was used to indicate where a person lived.

A person doesn’t waver on where he lives. He doesn’t think, “Well, at least for today, I’ll stay at 345 West Street.” No, it’s a rather permanent decision, even if it’s for a six-month lease in an apartment. When he moves in, he moves in to stay. He’ll sleep there, eat there, and keep his clothes there. He’ll invest in the walls, the floor, and the roof. He’ll invite people over, and cut the grass in the front yard. If he marries, he’ll bring his bride there. There is no wavering about where a man lives, and moving is a major ordeal. We try not to move very often. When you “move-in” with Jesus, it’s a permanent move. You’re going to live Jesus, eat Jesus, sleep Jesus. Your entertainment, working situation, down-time, up-time, and all secret time will be affected by Jesus. The Message paraphrase even says it like that: “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you.”

The short description of this kind of abiding is “commitment.” And the person who makes a lifetime commitment to Christ will see immense rewards. When Jesus said this kind of person would bear “much fruit,” (John 15:5) the Greek word for “much” is “polun.”

“Polun” means “a great amount.” If we’re talking about a “great” crowd, we’re going to see thousands of people. If you wanted to describe a “polun” pain, you’d describe a family grieving after the loss of a child. If you wanted to speak of a “great” property owner, it would be the property of the person who dominates a community with all his holdings. Instead of a grocery cart filled with food, imagine the delivery truck unloading cases of produce. “Polun” is the extreme of “great.”

If a person will make a commitment to Christ, the fruit will be produced in extreme greatness. There is no limit to what could happen to a person who continues to increase in his or her commitment to Christ. “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15:7-8)

Do you really realize what Jesus promised to the person willing to make a 100-percent, nothing-held back, commitment? “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”

Some people are desperate for hope. Some are desperate for more income. Some for better health. Some for a peaceful day at home. Some just want a little love in the marriage. Some want to move past the grief, and get on with life again.

What is it that you wish? What kind of life circumstances might have been part of God’s pruning process in your life? What’s stopping you from greater commitment, and therefore, greater joy?

Here is the reality of this series....Only a small fraction of Christians considering the lessons of the vineyard will actually make the commitment to be pruned, cleansed, and used for great fruit-production. It seems too frightening to trust everything to God, but there is no alternative choice.

Know what’s true about patients who learn they’ve got a heart problem that could be solved by a heart cath?

They hear the diagnosis, they understand the words of a doctor’s concern ... and then they have to take action. They have to submit to the procedure. They have to sign paperwork that says something like, “I understand the risks, and I want this done to me.”

• No one holds a weapon to the head of a heart-cath patient and forces her to go through with it.
• No one holds a family member hostage to make a man lie down in the cath lab.
• No, he just has to decide whether or not he wants to get it done. And then he submits to the physician.