I spent some time with my family over the weekend, and it was a blessed time! During the weekend, something very seemingly trivial happened, but it resonated with me. I shared a story about a video I saw with my cousins, and they wanted to see it for themselves, so I ran up the stairs to grab my laptop. I unplugged the power chord from the back of the computer and dashed back down the stairs to show them the video and a few pictures I had taken over the past year. After watching the video, we began to look through the pictures, and all of a sudden, the computer grew dim and then a few minutes later, the screen was a bit dimmer, and eventually, it turned off and we were left to stare at a blank screen. I had so much stored on the computer that I wanted to show them, but I couldn’t. After fidgeting with the power button for a few minutes, I realized that my battery had died, and I needed to plug it back into the power source. I ran up, grabbed the power chord, plugged it into a power outlet, and voila it came back on, and I was able to share all the pictures and “stuff” stored on the computer.
Fun story, wasn’t it? I did not think so either, well, at least not until I remembered Jesus’ words to His disciples in John 15:5. “I am the vine, and you are the branches. If a man remains in me, He will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
Like the computer, I am certain that most Christians are filled with a wealth of information, Biblical knowledge, experiences, wisdom, etc, but how far can those really take us if we do not stay plugged into the Source? The Pharisees were perfect examples of computers with no power chords attached. In John 5:39, we read, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me; yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” They knew the facts, but they did not have the power, the life. In the grand scheme of things, that is, in light of eternity, all their knowledge did not do them any good because as long as they were not plugged into the Source, they were as good as a dead computer.
The Lord is our source of power and life, and if we do not stay connected to Him, like the laptop, we cannot do much, that is, we cannot have life, and we cannot bear fruit. The key to the Christian life does not lie how much we know, but in how closely we stay connected to Christ. When we practice the latter, we gain the former; the more connected we are to Christ, the more truth He reveals to us. O what a lethal combination it would be to know truth and to be plugged into the Source! Are you plugged into the Source?
Grace and peace be with you.
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