Abiding Isn’t Complicated

Jesus Christ said, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He [lifts up]; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 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. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing (John 15:1-5).”

 When we think about what it means to abide in Jesus, if we are a technical/mechanical kind of person, our temptation is to ask for a checklist. But abiding isn't a program. Abiding is a relationship. We live in an electronic world and we want to treat abiding in Christ like charging an electronic device. How long do I have to be plugged into Christ through a quiet time of prayer or reading the Bible to get the charge I need to then go out and do my thing?

 But Jesus doesn't say "I am the power cord you are the cell phone." He says, "I'm the vine. You're the branch." If you want his power in your life there can't be any disconnect! Abiding is living in a constant awareness of total dependence. Abiding is what realistic people do who realize that they have no spiritual life or power in themselves.

 When thinking about abiding some other people can make it overly mystical. But it's not a special spiritual state that we work ourselves into. More than anything abiding is an attitude of heart. It's the opposite of self-reliance, of the "I can handle this myself" kind of thinking. It is dependence and child-like faith that says, "All I have is Jesus Christ: his life, death, resurrection, exaltation, and power is all for me. And without him I have nothing."

 As Scripture declares, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, [i.e. by faith, by trusting him to save you]  “so walk in Him,  rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.  Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:6-10).” [my emphasis]

 Here's the truth: you and I know how to abide. When there's someone in our life that we know we can't live without, we know how to stay close to that person. We talk to her. We listen to him. We don't go on long vacations away from that person. We remember to call. We do the things that please him. We give up other things and relationships to make her our first priority.

 That's what Jesus tells us to do in John 15. If you want to abide in Jesus read the Bible. Let his words shape your attitudes and actions. Pray. Seek to love what he loves. Ask him to do in you the things that will please him and bring him glory. Abide in his love by keeping his commandments. Obey him even when it's costly. Remember who you are and what you have and what you are called to do in Christ. As the old song says,

 Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Abiding isn't complicated. The secret to abiding is simply being desperate for Jesus. The secret to abiding is truly believing that apart from Jesus you can do nothing.