Part of the Lord's Prayer is “give us this day our daily bread.” In many ways that portion of the prayer can seem irrelevant to our lives. When is the last time you had to depend on God for the meal that you had to eat that day? Where you had nothing at all and you needed to fully rely on God's providence?
It is often difficult to find practical ways to depend on God in a culture that prides itself in depending upon yourself. Many people take pride in saying that they pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps. This implies that everything they accomplished and gained in life was purely a result of their own efforts. This is not the attitude that Christ wants us to have.
In John 15:5 Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—and I in him—bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing.”
Is this the attitude that we demonstrate in serving God in our area of ministry? Or do we look at the things that we have accomplished as simply feats of our own wit and wisdom?
Jesus is the vine, not I and not you. Just as a vine delivers the nutrients to all of the branches, Christ is the one that provides life to us. He is the one that has given you the capacity to grasp complex technical systems and understand things that make other people's eyes glaze over.
When we are connected to the Vine then we are able to accomplish great things for the Kingdom of God. At times it can be easy to begin to think that we are doing these things in our own strength and ability. However, according to the Scripture we can't do anything apart from Jesus and the strength that He provides.
It is critical that we remain in the Vine. Technical ministries are not less anointed than any other form of ministry. It may seem natural that a pastor or worship leader needs to stay connected to Christ to remain effective in their ministry. But you need to stay connected to!
Dependence on God means that we are not dependent on ourselves. Is reading God's Word and spending time in prayer important for you? These are the things that help us stay connected to Christ. As we are connected to Him then his power can flow through to us and we can accomplish great things for Him.
We begin to disconnect from the Vine when we feel that it is more important to stay connected to current technology trends than staying connected to God's Word. Take time today to make sure that you are staying connected to Christ.
