John 15:4 (NASB) 4 Abide
in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it
abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
Abiding in Christ… I have thought a lot about what it means to abide
in Christ. Many of us have. Yet we have probably come up with lots
of different ideas of what it looks like.
Understanding
what it means to abide in Christ will help us get back to basics. However I in no way expect to cover the
fullness of this subject here, I don’t think I could do it justice in this
short letter. Yet I want to share a few
of my thoughts with you.
If a
branch abides in the vine, it always remains connected. If it becomes
disconnected, it no longer abides. It's really that simple. For our
spiritual wellbeing, we must endeavor to always remain in connection with
Christ.
A vine
(trunk) is where the nutrients originate. It has all of the resources
needed for the branches to thrive, yet if the branch become disconnected those
nutrients never reach their intended destination. The vine is still
producing and supplying the nutrients needed, yet the branch isn't getting them
because it has been pulled off, cut off, or separated in some way from the
vine.
In our
everyday lives there are so many things that tug on us, pulling us away from
our connection to Christ. There are a thousand things that try to cause
us to ‘disconnect’ from Christ. These
things in themselves are not all bad, but they can be interference.
Anything
that interferes with our relationship to the vine (Christ) will impede our
fruiting process and can even cause us to 'dry up'. If we want to
survive as Christians, we must remain connected to the vine... But we can do
far more than just survive... God desires that we thrive!
I am sure
you feel the same way that I do. I don’t
want to dry up! I want to flourish in
Christ! So we must daily guard our
connection to Christ, with all that is in us, and that is done only by
intentional discipline.
We have
been studying discipleship lately. Discipleship is not just a class we attend. It’s a way of life. We have to discipline ourselves to follow
Christ in all things. The scripture
below is an example of what it looks like to discipline the mind.
Phil. 4:8 (NASB) 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever
things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of
good report; if there be any virtue, and if there
be any praise, think on
these things.
It takes
focus to remain in constant connection and communion with Christ, but the
reward is to be a fruitful and flourishing Christian! I’m sure that is what we all desire.
One more
thought. If we remain connected to
Christ we also remain connected to one another because he is the vine that
unites us all.
My prayer
for you and the body of Christ today is that you abide in Him, and that we remain
connected to each other. Lord, help us to be fruitful and multiply in your kingdom.
