January 7 I Saturday

Genesis 18-19

Matthew 6:1-18

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.”    —John 15:5

Most of us probably have a car parked outside our home or sitting in our garage. If the parts of our car could speak to each other, the engine would say to the rest of the car, “Without me, you can do nothing,” which would be perfectly true. Without an engine, the car cannot go anywhere. However, even though a car can have an engine under its hood, it can do nothing unless there is a driver behind the wheel who will turn on the ignition, put it into drive, release the brake and step on the gas pedal.

       We may ask, what makes the car go? Is it the engine or is it the driver? Of course, it is both! The engine has all the resources needed to get the car down the road. Although the driver rests behind the wheel, he has got to stay alert and be focused, because he is enabling the power of the engine to connect with the wheels. Similarly, God has graciously given us a choice in our lives, to be active and engaging while His power is driving our Christian lives.

       The late Charles Trumbull was the editor of The Sunday School Times, a respected Christian journal that circulated weekly worldwide in the early 1900s. In one of his books, The Life that Wins, he wrote about his struggle with the Christian life: “Some months later I was in Edinburgh, attending the World Missionary Conference, and I saw that one whose writings had helped me greatly was to speak to men Sunday afternoon on ‘The Resources of the Christian Life.’ I went eagerly to hear him. I expected him to give us a series of definite things that we could do to strengthen our Christian life; and I knew I needed them. But his opening words showed me my mistake, while they made my heart leap with a new joy. What he said was something like this: ‘The resources of the Christian life, my friends, are just—Jesus Christ.’ That was all. But that was enough, I hadn’t grasped it yet; but it was what all these men had been trying to tell me. Later, as I talked with the speaker about my personal needs and difficulties he said, earnestly and simply, ‘Oh, Mr. Trumbull, if we would only step out upon Christ in a more daring faith, He could do so much more for us.’”

       Like Trumbull, may we step out with daring faith, trusting that Jesus Christ is our complete resource for the Christian life.

Prayer: Dear God, help me step out in daring faith, knowing that You are the power that drives my Christian life and that You are enough. Thank You, Lord.