Apart From Me, You Can Do Nothing

John 15:5 says, 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.

We live in a society, a modern world where independence means a great deal and most people stive for this who are "successful". I am no exception, at least for most of my life. It's the way I was taught. Be independent so you don't have to rely on others. We work our whole lives for this, and often, in the end, we end up relying on others because we are too old to do it on our own or some other things happens.

At one point or another, when we become adults, we end up relying on others.

Over the past months, if there is any one single verse that sticks out to me, it's John 15:5 and the part that says, "Apart from me, you can do nothing." Do you have the argument of, "Oh yes, I can . . . XXXXXX. . . You just wait and see." And, so off we trot to our "independent actions"?

Truly without God, I cannot even take a breath. God breathed life into man. It is God that gives us our breath. How often do we really think about this, as it's an autonomic (sp?) response? We just don't unless you have asthma or something that steals your breath away.

Apart from God, I can do NOTHING! Think about it.

God provides the opportunities in my life to learn, to grow, to be refined, to help others, to show love.

When I attempt to do things on my own, not even consider God, I'm in the wrong. Too bad this isn't a rare occurrence, but it's a lifelong bad habit of mine that now after 4 decades, I'm learning about. My driving, the things I eat, the things I think about, people in my life, my dreams, and a host of things -- they cannot be improved & changed without God. God wants to be involved.

Of course, this doesn't mean we sit back and do nothing, rather it just means that God wants to be in the driver's seat, have control, while we are active participants. It can be a wonderful marriage, if we allow it to be.