I need thee every hour,
most gracious Lord;
no tender voice like thine
can peace afford.Refrain:
I need thee, O I need thee;
every hour I need thee!
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to thee. (“I Need Thee Every Hour” by Annie S. Hawks and Robert Lowry)“Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” (John 15:6–8 NLT)
Within some machines exist parts that are so crucial that if they were to fail the entire machine will grind to the halt. These single points of failure sometimes even result in a catastrophic breakdown that has potential to utterly destroy the entire machine. For some types of helicopters, one such single point of failure is the main rotor retaining nut. This nut is responsible for keeping the main rotor attached to the fuselage, which means if it comes undone midflight there is nothing that could possibly be done to prevent a crash. In contrast, if the engine died for any reason, a well-trained pilot could fairly easily glide the helicopter into a safe landing using the natural rotation of the rotors to guide the descent. This particular single point of failure in a helicopter, the main rotor retaining nut, is sometimes called the Jesus nut because if it fails the only thing left to do is to pray to Jesus.
Even though every person is different, there is one single point of failure that is common to all believers. If we fail to remain in Christ, connected to Him like a branch is connected to the vine, we are sure to fail. Unlike other types of wood, branches from a grapevine cannot be converted into anything useful through tools or craftsmanship; they are so knotted and twisted that once they are disconnected from the main vine and dried out, they are only useful as fuel for the fire. This is also true of us. Apart from Christ, we are useless and only fit to be tossed aside, but if we remain in Him, we will not fail to produce much fruit. What areas of your life are in need of being reconnected to the true vine? What habit do you need to give up, or practice you need to take up, to help you remain in Christ?