DEVOTION: Without Him . . . by Kathi Macias

“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)

            As is my usual daily practice, I spent quite a bit of time this morning praying and reading/meditating on the Word, but when I finished and came to my computer to write this devotional, I had to confess to God that I had “nothing”—no word, no thought, no insight to share with all of you.

            That’s when I heard God whisper to my heart, “Why are you surprised? Don’t you remember that I told you that without Me you can do nothing?”

            We humans are an amazing bunch, aren’t we? Despite the fact that those of us who consider ourselves dedicated disciples are careful to set aside that quality time with God, we still come away thinking we should have “something” to offer. And, of course, because we serve a faithful God who desires to impart more of Himself to us all the time, we truly do come away with something worth sharing with others. But occasionally we need to be reminded that whatever “something” we may have to offer has absolutely nothing to do with us.

            Jesus was quite serious when He said that without Him we can do “nothing”—and nothing means nothing. We say we believe that, don’t we? And yet…don’t we really imagine that it means “nothing much”? Surely we can do one or two things on our own…can’t we?

            Not according to Jesus. What a clear reminder that anything we initiate on our own is, when it’s all said and done, NOTHING. It is only those efforts we expend and accomplishments we achieve as a result of loving obedience to the Savior that bring about any sort of lasting results. If the desire of our hearts is to hear the words “Well done, good and faithful servant” at the end of our earthly lives, then we need to prayerfully consider these words of Jesus (“without Me you can do nothing”) and ask Him to help us comprehend and apply them to our lives today, and always.

Kathi Macias is a wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother—as well as an “occasional radio host” and an award-winning author of more than thirty books, including her popular international Extreme Devotion fiction series from New Hope Publishers.

Thank you for sharing your devotions with us through this column, Kathi.

www.kathimacias.com/