"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except you abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. ...Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." John 15:4,5 & 8
There are numerous days when I just don't feel like doing anything. -Days like today. My lessons for the week are planned, dinner is leftovers, and laundry won't take that long. Today, I was truly tempted to just do nothing. Yet, as I read these comforting words of Christ (follow-up on a book I've been re-reading) this phrase jumped out at me:
"for without me ye can do nothing."
Oh, I CAN do nothing, and indeed, if I acted on my feelings/mood, that's what I would do: nothing. -Nothing that would bear good fruit. -Nothing of spiritual value. -Nothing that would bring glory to my heavenly Father. Doing nothing, put frankly, is feeding the flesh, without thought of Christ (or worse, rejecting his promptings all together.) None of the things that I might "do" when I'm doing nothing (netflix, scrolling facebook, pinterest, reading a novel, etc.) glorifies God.
If a simple definition of glorify is "to make big," then the opposite is "to make small." -To, in essence, render Christ too small to influence my life or even be a part of my day. How often have I acquiesced to my feelings instead of letting Christ rule and glorifying my Father?
Oh that Christ would dwell richly in my heart; that he would truly rule; that through abiding in Christ in my every moment, I would glorify the Father.
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| Concord grapes on the family farm, 2012 |
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