January 14, 2024
Abide in Me: John 15:1-12
DEPENDENCE: the state of relying on someone/something for aid, support, resources, encouragement. Confidence; trust, reliance.
John 15:1-12 The Message
“I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken. “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.
“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples. “I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love. “I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love.
Independence and self-reliance are virtues our western culture celebrates, fosters and encourages. But these are not the ways of Jesus. Christ modeled a life that draws from the power and provision of God.
Who and/or what are you dependent upon? What, if removed from your life, would you desperately miss? Our culture depends on electricity, our banks, our doctors, our money, our phones, our cars, our calendars, our kids’ sports, even our grocery stores.
Connect with a friend or small group member and ask one another: What might it look like to depend wholly on God in place of one thing our culture has taught us we can’t live without? How can you take one step towards dependence on God this week?
Cursed is the one who trusts in human strength and the abilities of mere mortals. His very heart strays from the Eternal. He is like a little shrub in the desert that never grows; he will see no good thing come his way. He will live in a desert wasteland, a barren land of salt where no one lives. Jeremiah 17:5-6