I don't think the day will ever come that we will become fully independent. Sure we can pay our own bills, face our own work problems, clean our own homes, but there are a hundred things that we cannot do without Jesus. As Christians we come to terms with the reality that we will forever need Jesus to do things we can never accomplish on our own.
Facing the big realities of life can often get very intimidating. However, when we realise that we can hold on to the finished work of a Savior who has won it all for us, we can start looking at those realities with full confidence that we're in good hands.
Jesus says in John 15:5, "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." Imagine being told "you can't do anything without me," only to have your master - who you put all your hope in - arrested, tried and executed in the following twenty four hours. That's what happened here.
Many times, we might feel like the disciples did at that exact moment. We know that our worlds would spin out of control without Jesus and then comes a time that it feels like Jesus just isn't there. Have you ever felt this way before? In our own human tendency, we falter out of believing in Jesus' supremacy and sufficiency and start looking to other "saviors" just in case Jesus isn't around the next time a crisis happens. We put money, connections, career, ministry and even our own skills and talents as back up plans to Jesus thinking we can be independent of Him every now and then.
Yes I believe in maturity in every aspect. I know that we must all grow to be more watchful and aware of our actions and their consequences. But I do not believe that we will ever become independent of Jesus. He also doesn't want us to be independent of Him and, what's more, we have no reason to be. Jesus will always be there for you. Just like He promises in Matthew 28:20, "... And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
To follow Jesus means we will forever be dependent on Him and will never see a day where we will not need Him. And that's a wonderful thing because Jesus is the answer to every demand. Everything that we will ever need - security, purpose, provision and satisfaction - can and will be found in Christ. Because of that we can put our trust in knowing that even when we are completely nothing without Christ, that's okay because He will always be there for us no matter what.
