John 15:1-11 | What's the lesson for me today?

I have found a temptation that sits deep within me that has been a common motivation for me in my walk with the Lord. It is that I think I have something worth bringing to the table. I think I have something I can contribute to the Lord. This passage always humbles me.

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
-John 15:5

There is a necessary revelation of nothing we need to have. What does it mean that without Him we can do nothing? Well certainly it means we can bear no good fruit unto the Lord without Him. But even more than that, who is giving me permission to breathe? Every breath I take is because the Lord has graciously allowed me to exist. If I can't even so much as breathe on my own power, how can I produce pleasing fruit to the Lord? It is impossible.

This drives me all the more to desire to abide. This is where the fruit of the fullness of joy comes from and the fullness of the life of a believer. I am sure we have encountered those believers who truly are unmoved by the happenings of this life. They are entirely sustained by their abiding in the vine. They have joy even in the midst of sorrow. This is what the life of the believer should look like, if only we would abide.

What lesson are you taking for yourself?