Have you ever tasted a delicious grape or some other piece of fruit that was especially tasty? Chances are that if you have, you didn’t burst out in praise for a branch that the fruit grew on. You might have declared how much you like the variety of fruit, complimented the person who selected it, or commended the farm that it came from, but you probably gave very little thought to the last component in the process that produced the fruit, the branch. The branches get little praise because they have done little to deserve any praise.
This raises an important question: one that our entire life hinges on. Who should get the praise for any good thing that comes from our lives? In the illustration of the vine and the branches, Jesus has made it clear that when we abide in Him through close, consistent fellowship, we will bear spiritual fruit because His life will be flowing through us and working in us to produce godly actions and attitudes. In John 15:8, Jesus states, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” Jesus is the vine, and the Father is the Husbandman. The Father is the one who prunes and purges to make the branches best able to bear good fruit. So logically, the one who should get the final credit for the quality and quantity of the fruit should be the Father.
God should get all the praise for any good in our lives. We have nothing good to offer apart from God. We will accomplish nothing good without God. Only when our lives are filled with good fruit and giving God the glory He deserves are we living as faithful disciples of Jesus.