Jesus was never known for empty rhetoric. Everything He said was on emphatic note. In our text, we hear Him say He is an irreplaceable factor in life. Without Him we can do nothing, not even to remember the commonest of things. I had to eat this humble pie several years ago. Precisely in April 2009, I was preparing to make a trip outside Nigeria. On the day of departure, I had everything packed. Just to lighten the atmosphere my wife casually said, “Make sure you don’t forget your glasses”. She jocularly threatened to sanction me if I did. I laughed at her seeming ridiculous reminder, taking it as one of those improbable things. Well, she had never known me to be careless. Shortly after this, I went to attend a meeting before heading for the airport. I actually forgot the glasses in that meeting place!

“Even on those issues where we seem to have clear edge, we still need to depend on God…A do-it-yourself attitude is a recipe for disasters and heartbreaks.”

That was not all. When we changed plane at Istanbul, Turkey, I forgot my belt at the screening point. Again, on our way back, I forgot my I-mate phone at the bathroom. Then I realized I wasn’t as smart as I thought. The Holy Spirit then made me know the import of our text: “for without me ye can do nothing.” The life we are called to live as Christians is that of total dependence on God for all things. We fail at many things because we attempt to confront them with our own prowess. Even on those issues where we seem to have clear edge, we still need to depend on God. This is how we can always see the hand of God stretched out to help us. A do-it-yourself attitude is a recipe for disasters and heartbreaks.