September 9, 2026
Broken Cord
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.”
The lift chair had worked perfectly for months, rising and lowering with a quiet hum every time the button was pressed. Then one afternoon, nothing happened. The chair was still plugged into the wall. The outlet still had power running through it, easy enough to confirm with another device. But the chair itself sat dead, unresponsive to every press of the button. The problem turned out to be simple once someone finally checked the cord itself. Months of the chair being sat on and repositioned had frayed the wire somewhere along its length, not enough to see without looking closely, but enough to break the connection the chair actually needed to function.
That distinction mattered. The chair was still connected to the outlet. It looked plugged in exactly the way it always had. But being plugged in and actually receiving power turned out to be two different things, and the frayed cord had quietly separated one from the other without anyone noticing until the chair simply stopped working.
Jesus told His disciples that He was the vine and they were the branches, and that remaining in Him was what allowed a person to bear fruit. Being near Him and drawing life from Him were never meant to be the same thing by accident. A branch can hang on a vine without the connection actually carrying anything, the way a cord can sit in an outlet with the wire inside slowly failing. Attending church, owning a Bible, knowing the right language, none of that guarantees the power is actually reaching the places doing the work.
A cord that looks plugged in can still leave a person completely without power. What matters is whether the connection underneath is still whole.
Today’s Prayer: Lord, repair whatever has frayed between us so Your power can reach me fully. Amen.
Reflection Question: Where in your life do you look spiritually connected on the surface but sense the power isn’t actually reaching you?