Apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
There is a comforting challenge contained within our passage of Scripture today. When Jesus was talking about Himself as the “True Vine” and how we are His branches, to say, “Apart from me you can do nothing” was the same as saying “Connected to me you can do anything.”
We live in a world that is self-deceived by self-dependence. The self-dependent or self-reliant person is a myth and lives in a world of make-believe. No one ever has and no one ever will live a self-dependent life. Even our Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, when He came into this world, He lived not a self-dependent life. Rather, He lived in complete dependence upon God the Father through the power of God the Holy Spirit. To pursue a life of self-dependence is to pursue a life our Savior refused to live, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Think about it this way. Every breath you take and every beat of your heart is dependent upon the will of God. Only as God purposes for us the gift of life, do we have life and that life is totally dependent upon the will of God sustaining it. Every person is God-dependent whether they want to acknowledge it or not. When the world speaks of “will power” it is speaking in self-deceiving terms because “will” has absolutely no “power” apart from God. Listen, being god is not only hard, it is an impossible thing to do. When we attempt it, our hopes that our self-dependence will mask our weaknesses actually accomplish just the opposite. We end up appearing both anxious and afraid to those around us.
So, here is the question of the day we all need to ask ourselves. Are we trying to live a life of self-dependence, as branches disconnected to the True Vine? If you are sensing in any area of life that this is the case, simply turn your heart back to God and remember these words from the prophet Zechariah 4:6, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. Remember, self-dependence is self-deception. Stay close to Jesus through His Word, your prayers, and consistent connection to His people and you will be living the only kind of life that truly matters: Savior-dependence that brings glory to God, good to others and the deepest gratification to you.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 