Lesson 3: Absolute dependence, part 1

 John 15:5 …for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Another great writer has said that absolute, unalterable dependence upon God alone is the essence of the religion of angels and should be that of men also. God is everything to the angels, and He is willing to be everything to the Christian. If I can learn every moment of the day to depend upon God, everything will come right. You will get the higher life if you depend absolutely upon God.

 Now, here we find it with the vine and the branches. Every vine you ever see, or every bunch of grapes that comes upon your table; let it remind you that the branch is absolutely dependent on the vine. The vine has to do the work, and the branch enjoys the fruit of it.

 What does the vine have to do? It has to do a great work. It has to send its roots out into the soil and hunt under the ground—the roots often extend a long way out—for nourishment, and to drink in the moisture. Put certain elements of manure in certain directions, and the vine sends its roots there, and then in its roots or stems it turns the moisture and manure into that special sap which is to make the fruit that is borne. The vine does the work, and the branch just has to receive the sap from the vine, which is changed into grapes. I have been told that at Hampton Court, London, there is a vine that sometimes bore a couple of thousand bunches of grapes, and people were astonished at its large growth and rich fruitage. Afterwards the cause was discovered.


 Not so very far away runs the River Thames, and the vine had stretched its roots away hundreds of yards under the ground, until it had come to the river-side; and there in all the rich slime of the river-bed it had found rich nourishment, and obtained moisture, and the roots had drawn the sap all that distance up and up into the vine, and as a result there was the abundant and rich harvest. The vine had the work to do, and the branches had just to depend upon the vine and receive what it gave.

 Is that literally true of my Lord Jesus? Must I understand that when I have to work, when I have to preach a sermon, or address a Bible class, or to go out and visit the poor neglected ones, that all the responsibility of the work is on Christ?

 That is exactly what Christ wants you to understand. Christ wants that in all your work, the very foundation should be the simple, blessed consciousness: Christ must care for all.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to learn this complete dependence on You. I want to be so deeply connected to You that every word, every hope, every smile, every encouragement to others comes only from You and none from me.