Jesus was speaking to His disciples, trainee apostles who would soon be the leaders of the church, using the analogy of the grape vine.  The common vine was an essential part of Israel’s economy, but they would have remembered that Hosea described Israel as a useless vine (Hosea 10:1-2) – like branches disconnected from the vine.  Now Jesus likened Himself to a new vine-stem which was rooted in the ground.  It is not particularly attractive – the branches (all those who believe in Jesus) often look better and they bear the grapes.  But if the branches are not connected to the vine they have no independent life, and they will inevitably wither and die.
 
Surprisingly, Father God does not allow uncontrolled growth in the true church (the ‘branches’ from Jesus who is the ‘True Vine’).  The Father has the right to say which branches shall flourish and which will be cut back.  Useless ‘dead wood’ branches are cut off (John 15:6), and potentially fruitful branches are pruned – growing stronger and producing more fruit (John 15:15).  God’s pruning may come in many ways, but always has the effect of stopping us continuing as we were.  Pruning may come through persecution, natural disaster, personal crisis or a Biblical challenge; but through it we learn to trust His Word and realign ourselves to His purposes.  Believers who are willing to be disciplined by His Word, will be spiritually productive as long as they are securely joined to the vine-stem.
 
Although there are many temptations to be independent of Jesus, they will all lead to spiritual decay (Philippians 3:18-19).  They will be a waste of time and waste of space.  Jesus cannot bring His new life to others through people who refuse to stay closely connected to Him – either through proud self-seeking or by carelessly allowing distractions to pull them away from Jesus.  Although there is much to do for Him, we can achieve nothing lasting without Him.  

Christ’s command to every believer is to stay close to Him so that His life can flow through them – changing their desires and enabling them to discipline their lives so that Jesus always comes first and is not replaced by anything or anybody else. If we remain in Him, He will remain in us.  This is a good time to re-evaluate your life-priorities; if Jesus, His Word and His Kingdom, His people and His church do not control your agenda, plead for His mercy and ask that He will change your heart.