John 15:4–5
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
As Christians we are called to abide in Christ – the Son of God has made himself available to us. He gave himself to us so that we could have life in him. It is real, it is available, it is present, He is ours. What does it mean to abide in Christ? What does this look like? How do we participate in it? Here are three simple and profound ways.
- We take Jesus at his word–he is the way/truth/life, no one comes to the Father except through him. He is our King, so we obey. He is our Savior so we depend. He is the one who calls all who are weary and heavy laden to find rest in him. To abide in Christ means we must know Christ–his words and his heart.
- We have nothing and no one else we look to for hope and fulfillment. He is our greatest treasure. To abide in Christ is to be confident that there is nothing better out there for us.
- Jesus is our context, our universe. All we do is connected to Jesus, draws on Jesus, reflects Jesus. This doesn’t mean we need to be weirdly spiritual. It means that we don’t do anything without reference to Jesus–he guides decisions, shapes moods, gives purpose.
I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville, in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe.
