The Umbilical Cord

The other day, a friend of mine who is a pastor shared with me something that happened to him when he was recently called to the hospital.

A grief-stricken family had summoned him upon the death of their baby girl at childbirth. "It was hard," my friend said, referring to seeing the baby girl. "She was beautiful."

He went on to share that the little girl had been carried to full term by her mother and had been born without incident. However, it turns out that this beautiful little girl had no lungs or liver and so, as soon as she was separated from her umbilical cord, she died.

Consider that, in spite of the fact that she was missing very large and important organs required for life outside of the womb, she still lived peacefully and joyfully within her mother for some 9 months, attached to her life source through that umbilical cord.

Not every believer wants to talk about it, but we’re all missing large and important spiritual things inside of us, too, things that haven’t yet developed as God intended. And yet, in spite of these glaring deficiencies in our spiritual make-up, we still have the opportunity to live peacefully and joyfully while daily growing more complete in Him as long as we remain attached to our umbilical cords.

Jesus said in John 15:1-5:

I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener. Every branch in Me that doesn’t bear fruit He takes away: and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, so that it may bring forth more fruit. You are pruned by the Word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it remains attached to the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine, and you are the branches; Whoever abides in Me, and I in them will bring forth much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

When we were born into God’s kingdom through Christ Jesus, we lacked so many vital things. We still do. Our good Lord willing we are all growing to be more complete in Him every day. Still, when Christ returns for us, it is apparent that we will all still remain uncompleted. Until then, we must look daily to the Author and Finisher of Faith, Christ Jesus, remaining attached to the Vine, that we may be transformed daily to be more and more like Him.

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, looking straight into Christ Jesus’ face and beholding as in a mirror His glory, are transformed into that same image [His image] from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord.2 Corinthians 3:17-18