August 10, 2020.
It’s a day that will be marked in many Midwesterners’ minds. It was the day that the derecho swept through the plains. Straight-line winds toppled power lines and people were in the dark for days. The storm tore down barns and sheds. It snapped trees in half and stripped the branches of others. Roofs were damaged or blown entirely away. Millions of acres of corn bowed down to the wind.
Clean-up went on for weeks. In our town’s neighborhoods you saw piles like this:
Dried up branches.
Before the storm, their leaves had been lush and green. But after the storm, they became worthless, ready to be hauled away and burned.
Some trees still had a branch or two hanging on:
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But the branch in this picture is clearly shriveled up.
It’s no longer connected to the trunk.
It lost its life-source.
The object lesson screams to be seen.
I am the vine, you are the branches. – John 15:5
Just like the branch is dry and lifeless when it’s separated from the trunk, we are helpless and hopeless without the Lord Jesus.
Shortly after the derecho, I found myself reading in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and I couldn’t help making some parallels.
First, some background:
Jehosheba, a royal princess, and her husband Jehoiada, a priest of the Lord, rescued their baby nephew Joash. He was the heir to the throne, and his evil grandmother Queen Athaliah wanted to kill him. Jehosheba and Jehoiada hid Joash in the Lord’s temple for years until the people were able to crown him king.
Joash was a good king. He did right in the sight of the Lord. He repaired the temple that had been ransacked by idol worshippers and he started the sacrifices again. Jehoiada, his “adopted” father, influenced and guided him in the ways of the Lord. Joash did what was right for all the days of Jehoiada.
But when Jehoiada died, other officials came and bowed down to Joash. They had a different agenda, and Joash listened to them, instead. Joash followed their advice and abandoned the Lord, turning to serve idols.
This was devastating to Joash and his kingdom. Doing life on his own brought painful consequences. Even when the Lord sent prophets to call Joash back to him, he wouldn’t listen. He went as far as to murder Jehoiada’s son, his own cousin, who tried to tell him to come back to the Lord. Enemy armies came to destroy Joash’s kingdom, and in the end, his own servants conspired to murder him.
Jehoiada’s name means “knowledge of the Lord”. When Joash was separated from Jehoiada, he shriveled up like those broken branches. He no longer received the support and guidance that he needed to follow the Lord.
It brings me back to John 15 – the vine and the branches.
Jesus is our “Jehoiada” – our Knowledge of God. Jesus is our life-source. He is the one that gives us what we need to thrive. His Spirit guides and influences us and causes us to bear fruit.
If we don’t abide in Him and try to break off and do our own thing, we will shrivel up and die.
Apart from Him, we can do nothing.
God is so merciful that He let Jehoiada live for 130 years – a really long life. People hadn’t lived that long since before the days of Moses. Even though Jehoiada lived a long time, he still eventually died.
That’s not the way it is for us.
Our Knowledge of God is eternal.
Jesus’ life will never end.
There is no way that He will ever stop supplying us His life, knowledge, guidance.
So, what are we doing?
Are we abiding in Jesus – seeking to know Him by spending time with Him in His word?
Or are we trying to live life on our own – independent of our life source?
If we break away, it won’t be long before we see ourselves shrivel and dry up.
Stay connected.
Abide in Him.
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