Plug In

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing (John 15:5, NKJV).

For approximately six months, our family desktop computer has overheated and shut down after 30 minutes of use. This has caused the family a lot of frustration, because it would always "crash" right in the middle of balancing the checkbook or finishing a especially creative email.

I have a laptop. So, in the evenings Terri (my wife) and Abbey (my teenage daughter) have used my laptop to stay in touch with the world. However, life is a lot easier when the desktop works.

For several weeks, I intended to carry the unit to the Leakesville Computer Center, which is less than a mile from our house. However, I just didn't get around to it. Last week, I was prepared to take it in, but, then, I discovered the Computer Center had closed.

Obviously, one of the fans was not operating correctly. Thus, the overheating continued. I needed to check it out, but...I didn't.

Finally, yesterday, I opened the CPU and discovered that one of the fans was not plugged into the board. While I didn't know where to connect the plug, I discovered the problem. Bruce Walley, the pastor of the Leakesville Assembly of God, is a computer expert. So, I called him and in a matter of seconds he connected the fan. Consequently, the computer ran for several hours yesterday without overheating.

Today, I feel stupid. Why didn't I look "under the hood" sooner? I could have eliminated a lot of tension in the family and fights over equitable use of the laptop.

Jesus said, "Without me you can do nothing." However, we are busy doing a lot of nothing. In our own strength, we "overheat" and "burn out." If we would just make sure we are connected to Jesus through prayer and daily surrender to Him as "living sacrifices," our lives would be more peaceful, more fruitful.

Do you feel yourself overheating? Well, respond to the invitation of Christ, "Come to me all Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28, NKJV)."

He offers relief from feelings of inadequacy, because he is adequate.