for if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. [galatians 6:3]
most of us spend large portions of our lives working to be sure that we have ‘made something of themselves’. when we meet new people, and they ask questions like ‘what do you do?’ we want to have an impressive answer. outside of Christ, our goals in life are usually to make as much of ourselves as we possibly can for our own comfort and security. yet with all the effort we seem to put into being ‘something’, the bible actually calls us to be ‘nothing’. but what does it really mean to be nothing?
in john 15:5, Jesus teaches, “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”.
in our own strength and from our own intelligence we can do nothing of any lasting, kingdom value. sure, we can earn a living and go about our business without much heavenly help, but we are unable to do anything that brings true purpose or fulfillment or meaning. we are rendered ineffective for the kingdom and leave no faith legacy.
by becoming nothing, we gain everything! we join ourselves to Christ, who is the true vine, and find that in and through him we will become and accomplish more than we ever imagined. when we take the leap of faith in surrendering to Christ, it is here that we find true meaning and fulfillment [matthew 10:39].
~ jason soroski