Am I plugged in? I flipped the switch … Nothing. I wiggled the handle give it a gentle kick, flipped the switch one more time and still nothing. I had just about decided that since the vacuum cleaner wasn't working that God didn't want me to vacuum the living room. It was only as I started to roll up the cord that I realized that it had come unplugged. Of course it wouldn't work! It wasn't plugged in to the power. There have been times in my life where I've been like the vacuum cleaner. I know there's work to be done, but there's no power or energy or life in me to do it. Often when that happens, I find that I have pulled the plug out of the socket (intentionally or unintentionally) and nothing is going to happen until it gets plugged back in. 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. John 15:5 Jesus talks about abiding in him so that we might bear fruit. In essence, he tells us that unless we are rooted in him, we have no life, no power. But if we abide in him, then in some miraculous way, he lives in us. And it is his life in us that produces fruit. So just how do we abide in him? What does that even mean? First of all, it means that Jesus wants us to have an intimate relationship with him. A relationship that is developed by spending time in prayer and study, in meditation and listening. In just the same way that we would develop a relationship with any other person it requires time and effort on our part. It requires intentionality. Secondly it means to be in community with those whom Jesus has called to himself. There is no such thing as a Lone Ranger Christian. That's not how it works. To be a follower of Jesus means to be part of the community that follows him. In other words, we have to stay plugged in. So, what do you do to stay plugged in, both on an individual basis and as part of the community? What fruit are you seeing in your own life and in the life of our community? Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated unto you; and then use us, we pray you, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Blessings, Matthew+ | 
