Tethered To God | Northstar Church

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5.

At about 3:45 p.m. on June 3, 1965, orbiting somewhere above the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii, astronaut Ed White opened the hatch of his Gemini 4 spacecraft and stepped out on the first-ever spacewalk by an American. Now in space, there is no resistance to one’s movement, so when White stepped off Gemini and began floating in space, he might have kept floating away were it not for a 26-foot tether attached between his spacesuit and ship. That tether was crucial to the success of the space mission.

Being tethered to God is just as important for the Christian. We tend to drift to places we don’t want to go when we are not tethered to God. Life can be hectic and there are times when we are so busy we forget the importance of being tethered to God. So instead of waiting on Him, we tend to try to solve life’s problems or circumstances with our own abilities. Instead of waiting for Him to shed some light on some confusion in our life we rush on ahead. Often that approach ends up in failure. When we are not tethered to God we can forget that God gave us talents and abilities, and He wants us to use them well; but He doesn’t mean for us to become sufficient in ourselves. We were created by God to rely on Him not only for the things we need and the choices we make, but every part of life.

If you are looking to make a fresh start make sure that fresh start starts with being tethered to God. That is the best way to make the life changes you seek to make. A fresh start means you have to launch out into new territory. The Bible says that the key to changing anything is faith. If you want to change your circumstance, it takes faith. If you want to change your personality, it takes faith. If you want to change anything in your life, you have to have some faith. And faith comes from being tethered to God. If you act in faith then you will do something positive to ensure that you don’t repeat the same mistakes over. The faith that I am talking about is an affirmative faith that takes positive action coupled with the help of God to change your life.

If you want to be tethered to God tether yourself to God’s word. Psalm 1: 1-3 (TLB) says, “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow evil men’s advice, who do not hang around with sinners, scoffing at the things of God. But they delight in doing everything God wants them to, and day and night are always meditating on his laws and thinking about ways to follow him more closely. They are like trees along a riverbank bearing luscious fruit each season without fail. Their leaves shall never wither, and all they do shall prosper. “ The more you meditate on God’s word, the better you will be tethered to God and the better the fresh start you wish to make.

What does it mean to be tethered to God? It means we are to become like Him. We are changed by Him. We are making the changes that represent visible life change. We would become more loving. We would be more forgiving. We would show more mercy. We would be more generous. And this character would begin to be evident in our lives.

Discussion Questions:

How would you define being tethered to God?
What could we do this week to be more tethered to God?