I am the vine, you are the branches. If you live in me, and I in you, you will bear fruit abundantly, but without me you can do nothing. One who does not live in me is like a withered branch, to be gathered up and thrown into the fire. But if you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you may ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.John 15: 1-7
I am confronted almost daily with reminders of my utter dependence on God. Though mankind has made astounding advances in understanding and shaping life, unlocking the secrets of the genetic code, scrutinizing the functions of the human body, discovering cures for one illness after another, I cannot fathom the fundamental mystery of my own life, nor even guarantee my next breath, nor prolong by as little as a single heartbeat the life span appointed for me. Though man has peered deeply into the structures and functions of created things, observing in detail the vast expanse of the universe, and penetrating the workings of matter to its smallest components, I am reduced to silence before the majesty of the Creator, knowing that the whole store of human knowledge is as nothing to the mind of God.
Without God I can do nothing. The spark of life that burst forth at my beginning is powered by God. My every thought, word, and deed, my capacity for knowledge, for innovation, for empathy, in fact everything about me, comes from God. I am nothing without his creative power. If he were to turn his thought from me for a mere instant, and hold back his creative and sustaining love, I would cease to be.
God endows all things with a portion of his creative power. But man alone is given the gift of intellect, that he might raise his eyes from his place on earth and search the heavens for signs of his Creator. Man alone is given the capacity to understand himself and his world, and from this understanding to raise up his mind and heart to God in worship.
When I acknowledge that all my accomplishments are nothing apart from God, that my very being is solely by the grace of God, that my life is at every moment a pure gift of love, I am compelled to raise up my voice in joyful praise. As I grow in faith, my very life becomes an act of worship, and in mind and heart I am ever more united with the God of love.
God my Father, you are my Creator and Lord. Without you I am nothing. May all my thoughts, words, and actions have their beginning in you, and may they come to fruition through your creative power. May I make your word the rule of my life, and follow your will in all I do.