Tuesday, March 15, 2005
John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
I AM THE VINE
Our two year old daughter is at that stage in her life where she insists on doing everything herself. The other day she dropped a dirty napkin on the floor during lunch. I reached down, picked it up, and threw it in the garbage. She went crazy until I took the napkin back out of the garbage, put it back on the floor, and let her take it to the trash can.
Now don't laugh too hard, because you know that adults often want to do everything themselves too. Worst of all, sometimes we try to accomplish things on our own without the Lord Jesus. We try to handle things ourselves without going to him in prayer, without meditating on His word, or without paying too much attention to the guidance He is trying to give us. If we go about our daily business without Christ, we're headed for disaster. Look what happened to Judas Iscariot when He tried to "go it alone." He ended His life in despair. Look at Peter when He tried to separate himself from Christ in the courtyard while onlookers questioned him.
The beautiful promise of our Savior, however, is that we don't have to live apart from Him. He is the vine and we are the branches. He holds on to us, gives us nourishment and life through the forgiveness of sins, and clings to us with all His might so we can grow and flourish. He even laid down His life that we might be connected to Him forever in heaven.
Apart from Jesus we can do nothing, so thank God that we will never have to live apart from Him! 