When our son was about two years old, we got him a t-shirt that proclaimed: “I still live with my parents.” We thought it was the cutest thing ever — incidentally, as newly-minted parents, we thought everything about him was supremely brilliant (Anyone else remember those gushing first-time parent days?). His t-shirt would bring a smile or a chuckle to our friends or even random people at the grocery store.

At two years old, he had no clue his t-shirt said anything remotely funny. It was something he wore because (A) We made him wear it, and (B) It was comfortable (Yes, it was a tag-less tee because every toddler mom knows that “itchy” clothing tags equal mega meltdowns. Thank you, Target, for helping mamas pick our battles!)

The message on that T-shirt was ironic because kids are incredibly dependent beings — they have little choice but to live with their parents.

When we moved from Portland, Oregon, to India six years ago, our kids kind of just tagged along because “home” for them was (and is) where their parents live. We packed their Olaf and Nemo soft toys and Lego Ninjago sets, their clothes and teeny shoes, even their favorite types of candy and we shipped it all to India. As a seven-year-old and a six-year-old, while they may have shared their feelings about moving to a new country, as their parents, we made the decision about where to live for them.

As adults, though, we have a relatively wider choice about where we live. Nah, we still probably can’t move into a multi-million dollar lake-front home with a swimming pool and an outdoor kitchen where we get to make hand-tossed gourmet pizza in a rustic brick oven (yeah, my dreams can be startlingly specific!), but we can choose where “dwell” or “abide” in terms of who or what we depend on.

We can choose to abide with God and depend on Him. Or we can choose to be self-reliant and figure life out for ourselves.

In John 15: 5, Jesus tells his disciples: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

The other day, a desolate branch of a climbing plant in our terrace garden sprouted flowers. The branch was wiry and leafless and there had never been the faintest hint of color on it. But overnight we saw a small cluster of light pink flowers on it. (If you scroll up, you’ll see a picture of it on this post but, clearly, photography isn’t my strong suit. You get an award if you can actually spot the flowers because that bird’s nest turned out to be the focal point of the picture.)

When I first saw the bloom on that desolate branch, I thought perhaps a bunch of flowers had fallen from somewhere else onto it. But then I realized that the otherwise bare branch was connected to the main plant. And that was the ONLY reason that branch could produce flowers. If the connection was severed, there was no possibility of that branch showing any signs of life.

And that’s exactly what Jesus was telling His disciples — and us. We need to stay connected to Him to do anything that is Christ-exalting or God-honoring.

The question before us is this: Where am I abiding? What am I depending on? Where am I drawing life from?

Am I relying on self? Am I relying on my educational qualifications, my bank balance, my husband’s potential to make money, my talents, my relationships, my own striving, my hustle, my blueprint for life, my…? Our own efforts may lead to productive lives where we rake in the accolades and the accomplishments. But God has a higher calling — not merely productivity but fruitfulness — a calling that is impossible to apart from Him.

Our son’s t-shirt proudly announced: “I still live with my parents.” What do your heart and mine say? Are we dwelling with God? Are we relying on Him to be fruitful? Or are we hustling in our own strength?

At the end of our earthly journeys and even after, wouldn’t it be awesome if we could say: “I still live with my Father”?

 

PS: Finally have a new phone wallpaper out. Feel free to download it here and use it as the lockscreen on your phone or share it with friends. I hope it serves as a little reminder to stay connected to the Vine. 

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