“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 (ESV)
“Apart from me you can do nothing.”
Jesus’ words grate against our current culture’s gospel of self-empowerment. While society views dependence as a weakness, God says it is our very source of life. Without Him, we cannot bear fruit. Without Him, we cannot love as He loved the world.
Just as a branch is completely dependent upon the vine for life, growth, and fruitfulness, so we are called to abide in Christ. While we long to forget our insufficiency, God wants us to embrace it. He is our source of life, the only One who can provide everything we need for each struggle-filled day; strength to meet our trials, wisdom to handle our uncertainties, grace to handle our problems, and peace according to each day’s worries.
Thought: To abide in Christ means to keep up a habit of constant close communion with Him,—to be always leaning on Him, resting on Him, pouring out our hearts to Him, and using Him as our Fountain of life and strength, as our chief Companion and best Friend. —To have His words abiding in us, is to keep His sayings and precepts continually before our memories and minds, and to make them the guide of our actions and the rule of our daily conduct and behavior – JC Ryle