Leaning on Jesus

"'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.'" - John 15:5 (NIV)

There has been many a time where Christians have been accused of using God as a "crutch," where they are unable to stand or do anything without God.

Somehow, that has been portrayed as a bad thing.

Throughout the Bible, it is proclaimed that we should rely on God, for he provides the strength that is necessary to live in a fallen world. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us,

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." (NIV)

The prophet Isaiah said for his fellow Israelites to "trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock (Isaiah 26:4 (ESV))" even after they had been conquered and oppressed. In the beginning shortly after he created the world, God provided for his newly formed man and all of the animals (see Genesis 1:29-30). Later, as people were abandoning Jesus after a particular difficult teaching on his being the "bread of life" (see John 6:25-59), one of his apostles, Peter, told him,

"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." - John 6:68-69 (NIV)

In his comparison of himself and his people described in John 15, Jesus said he is the vine and we are the branches. A tree's branches cannot survive apart from the tree - anyone who has picked up dead branches following a storm can attest to this. We are the same way in that we cannot survive and do much of anything apart from God and by extension, Jesus Christ.

That includes being saved from our sins. In John 14:6, Jesus is quoted as saying,

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (NIV)

That is because Jesus was the final sacrifice for our sins (and remember every last one of us have sinned) when he went to the cross. And we need to accept that gift is repent of our sins (see Mark 1:15) and confess that Jesus is Lord (see Romans 10:9-10), then we will be saved.

Questions? Concerns? Do you want to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior today? Please feel free to contact me today and we can talk.