Who do you do depend on?
In July, our granddaughter Millie will be three years old. Like any infant, she is completely dependent on her parents to look after her. This includes clothing her, feeding her, changing her nappy, and so on. Every Wednesday my wife and I enjoy the pleasure of looking after her for the day. However, as time moves on, she will reach the stage when she is able to do many things for herself.
I think most parents feel a pang of wistfulness when their child outgrows being dependent on them, even though they know that such growth is healthy and normal.
I imagine that many of us have a streak of independence in us, because there are times when we don’t like being told what to do, or how to do it.
Frank Sinatra is famous for singing about such independence in the song, “I did it my way”. No doubt there are many people whose philosophy of life is to “do it my way”.
However, the truth is that we are all dependent on other people in many ways. For example, we are dependent on members of our families, our friends, the bus driver, the doctor.
When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, he told them to begin their prayers with “Our Father”. In so doing he was likening our relationship with God to a child-parent relationship. So the Lord’s Prayer reminds us of our dependence on God. It’s a dependence we will never grow out of.
In many Mediterranean countries vineyards are a common sight. Jesus once used the imagery of a vine and its branches to describe his disciples’ dependency on him. He told them, “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.”
So how do we live with a dependence on God? A man called William Barclay who was a Scottish author, radio and television presenter said, “We must keep contact with God, and we cannot do this unless we deliberately take steps to do so. For example, to pray at the start of each day even if it be only for a few moments.”
Like the vine and the branches, if we live with a dependence on God we will live fruitful lives.