To Encourage You

John 15:5 “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.”

In the verse above Jesus tells us that without Him we can do nothing.  Do you believe Him?  Maybe you’re a person who doesn’t believe in Him, so you think this statement has no bearing on your life.  But as Paul told the idolatrous Athenians who were not followers of Christ, “he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.  And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’” (Acts 17:24-28).  Hebrews 13:3 tells us that “he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”  In other words, without Christ, none of us could exist. He created us and He alone, sustains us.  He’s the One who keeps our hearts beating. He alone is the One who keeps our lungs, brains, kidneys, and every other organ in our body functioning.  The power that keeps all the electrons whirling about the nucleus in every atom in our body is from Him.  It is God alone Who the psalmist points to and says, “You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing” (Psalm 145:16).  Our food, our drink, our breath: He sustains it all.  Jesus pointed to His Father and said, “He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). And in case we think it is just the Father and not the Son who does all this, remember Jesus’ words to Thomas who asked “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” In reply “Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father’” (John 14:8-9). 

So, back to the verse above, in which Jesus specifically refers the “nothing” that we can do without Him as the “bearing of fruit.” He’s talking about the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  He’s talking about that which proceeds from the life of a person that is done to the glory of God and which has benefit for both this life and the life to come.

My wife said to me once many years ago, “It’s only what we do as to Christ that really matters.”  She was absolutely right about this, based on the authority of Jesus’ own words.  That’s why an abiding relationship with Christ is so important. In fact, it is, as Jesus said to Martha, the “one thing” that “is necessary.” He told her that it was the one thing that would not be taken away from us, as He pointed to Martha’s sister Mary who was sitting as His feet and listening closely to His words as an example (Luke 10:42).  And so, we should all ask ourselves, “what am I doing with my life?  Am I doing it in and through a relationship with Jesus Christ? Are my thoughts and actions proceeding from my relationship to Him? How about the way I spend my money and time?  Are my words a reflection of my life in Him?” If not, do you realize that we are, in reality, doing nothing, i.e., nothing that is fruitful in the eyes of almighty God.