Words of Life: An Enduring LegacySample

Legacy: staying connected.

After some activities at the church, it was time to tidy up. I was put in charge of vacuuming and got to work. After several minutes of moving up and down the hall with the vacuum pipe, the floor remained messy. I pressed harder, moved slower and more intentionally, but the piles of crumbs stayed on the floor. Then I heard giggles – somehow, the vacuum pipe had disconnected from the machine itself. Without restoring the connection, my efforts were useless.

In these verses, Jesus tells his disciples that without them remaining connected to him, by means of relationship maintained by the Holy Spirit, all of their efforts and work will amount to nothing. He doesn’t say that ‘apart from him’ the disciples will be able to do some things, or many things, or a few things. No. Jesus very clearly asserts that apart from him, his disciples can do nothing.

Jesus is not an optional extra for Christians, making our lives a little easier or more convenient. He isn’t merely something that adds value to the Church’s activities or programmes. Without Jesus, we have and we achieve nothing. A lasting legacy comes primarily from connectedness to Christ. Without this connectedness, although it might appear we are doing something, that we are busy serving our communities, we risk a 'nothing' result. We can be actively worshipping God through our attendance and participation at the corps, but if we are not worshipping and serving with a full and growing connection to Jesus, ultimately our efforts can amount to nothing. They become as much good as a vacuum cleaner pipe that is not connected to the machine.

Pray these words of General John Gowans, and consider how they might apply to your own life today:

Nothing can I achieve, nothing attain;
He that without thee builds, labours in vain;
Shatter my own design,
Shaping a plan divine,
Come to this heart of mine,
Saviour, again.

John Gowans (Salvation Army Song Book 600 v 2)