ABIDING
John 15:4
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
A few years back on a Saturday morning I was sneaking along a river bank in Alabama and came upon a very old tree stand. Much of it had fallen down and had long since rotted away. However much of it was still standing and looked somewhat sturdy. The reason that part of it was still standing was that it grown into the tree. Over years of being dependent on the big oak for support it had eventually grown into the tree and had literally become part of it.
In John 15:4 we read we are to "abide in Christ"... What does it mean to abide in Jesus as branches in the vine? I think that there are at least two things involved in abiding... connection and dependence, and then maybe a third of consistency. These three things are woven together of aspects of abiding.
Like the stand in the tree, we become connected to Christ at some point in life, then we become dependent on Him.... Then we remain consistently with Him.
Christ is explaining that to be a integral part of Him and His ministry we must put all of our dependency and life connection in Him. We must quit relying on what we want and we can do and start totally relying on Him.
If you're a fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies you can remember Bootstrap Bill Turner. At one point in his career as a pirate, Bill finds himself being ejected overboard. Captain Barbossa strapped Bill to a cannon by his bootstraps and dropped it off the deck and into the depths. But, Turner didn't die.
He was found by Davy Jones, who offered the doomed sailor a tour aboard The Flying Dutchman in exchange for keeping him from death. After serving for years, Bill became more and more part of the ship and forgot the life he left behind. He literally became encased in the ship itself.
So abiding in Christ means allowing His Word to fill our minds, direct our wills, and transform our affections. We become part of Him... Or better understood... He becomes part of us. We are permanently and beautifully connected.
Our relationship to Christ is intimately connected to what we do with our Bibles! As Christ's Word dwells in us and the Spirit fills us, we will begin to pray in a way consistent with the will of God. This is when we've truly abided in Him and we become permanently connected to Him.
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