What Happens When You Disconnect From Jesus
“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. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. - John 15:5-8
I recently took a trip back to Georgia from our home in Kentucky so I could attend my sister’s bridal showers. It’s normally around a seven-hour-long drive from my house to my parents’ house. So with coffee in hand and plenty of podcasts in the queue, I headed off on my journey.
About half an hour into the drive, a leaf fell onto my windshield and got tangled in my windshield wipers. It was a gorgeous bright yellow color, reminding me of the beauty of fall this season. I smiled as it stayed clinging to the wipers and joined me for the remainder of my trip.
But as the hours passed by and state lines were crossed, the leaf started to lose its color more quickly than I expected. It started by fading to a muted yellow. Then it morphed into a faded tan color by the time I arrived at my destination.
The leaf was still hooked to my windshield wipers when I drove back to Kentucky four days later. And by this point, it was shriveled up, crispy, and dark brown - a far cry from its bright, healthy appearance from a few days earlier.
As I thought about this leaf on my journey back home, I thought about what an accurate picture it paints for us as believers. In order for us to be thriving, healthy followers of Christ, we have to be connected to the source of life - Jesus.
When we make the effort to connect with our Savior - by spending time in His Word daily, talking to Him in prayer, getting involved in a church community, surrounding ourselves with other believers, and using our God-given gifts to serve others - we give the Lord the opportunity to pour into us, grow us, challenge us, mature us, and make us more like His Son. Our light for Christ shines bright, like the brightness of the yellow leaf, when we stay connected to Him.
On the other hand, if we are disconnected from our source of life and choose to attach ourselves to something else, like the leaf attached itself to my car, our spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional health all suffer.
We aren’t able to thrive and grow in our faith when we’re not connected to the very person our faith is rooted in. Honestly, it’s pretty mind-blowing how quickly the life is drained out of us when we hold onto anything or anyone else tighter than we hold onto Jesus.
With this in mind, I want to ask you some questions.
What are you doing to stay connected to Jesus? Are you reading His Word consistently? Are you spending time in prayer? Are you plugged into a church? Are you surrounding yourself with Christian community? Are you serving others as a way to point them to Christ?
Is there anything you’re holding onto tighter than you’re holding onto Jesus? Are you holding onto your plans? Your expectations? Your relationships? Your desires? Your sin?
I’d encourage you to take some time to answer these questions today. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you clarity as you process your answers, and to reveal any areas that might be blindspots. If there’s a way of connecting with Jesus that you want to work on or improve upon, ask the Holy Spirit to help you with that. And if there’s anything you’re holding onto instead of holding fast to the Lord, ask God to give you the strength and the boldness to let go and trust Him to fulfill you more than anything or anyone else can.
I don’t want us to be like the brittle, brown leaf that was still stuck to my car when I returned home. I want us to be like the bright and bold leaves that make autumn so beautiful. I want us to thrive. I want us to be healthy. I want us to stay connected to our source of life.
And I know without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord wants that for us too.