Abide In Christ

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.

(John 15:4-5)

To abide means to – remain; continue; stay; dwell; reside. I try to abide in Jesus every day. If I am in Christ and he is in me, then I will accomplish God’s purpose for my life. As a red-blooded male, I tend to want to do everything on my own. Many times, I will try making decisions without praying to God about what he would want me to do. Without God, I may have small victories, but they are few and far between. My best accomplishments have come when I’ve relied on his leading.

Even if I’m doing God’s work but do everything under my own strength and with my own plans, I will not succeed in God’s eyes. I could build the most beautiful church world but without the Lord’s leading, I would build in vain. I could go out into the world as a missionary but if I’m not working in the will of God, I’m wasting my time. Anything I do, whether it’s for the work of the Kingdom or my everyday life, I want to remain in Christ; to abide in the will of God.

I should never try to separate my everyday life and my faith. If I try to act like everyone else when I’m not at church, I cannot claim to be a Christian. I cannot spend Saturday night getting drunk in a bar and go to church the next morning like it never happened. My relationship with Jesus is rather fake if I look through porn magazines during the week, and then read the Bible at church. I must remain in Christ throughout my life, no matter where I am or what I’m doing.

If I’m not careful to stay within God’s will, the temptations of this world will be quick to reclaim me. Whatever I may achieve then, may have worldly success but that will be hollow at best and turn to dust when I’m gone. There is only one way to have real triumphs in this life. That’s when I put my whole trust in the one who saved me. If I hold on to his loving hand he will lead me to the greatest success of all, eternity with him.

Heavenly Father, you are our refuge. We can take sanctuary in you for the tough times as well as the good times. We do so because without you, everything we do is hollow, without distinction. When we go off and do things on our own, they may have some good results, but they would be so much greater with the influence of the Holy Spirit in us. We need you every day to make our lives count for something besides material gain. Give us courage to share the good news of Jesus Christ with those who do not know him. Make us realize that we cannot save anyone. It’s our responsibility to plant the seed and water it. We do that with our witness and by sharing the gospel. Only you can make the seed grow to produce fruit, and only you can bring in the harvest. If we stay within your will, we will bring more and more people to your great harvest. We want only to serve you and seek your covering for our daily lives. We ask your blessing on our efforts for the Kingdom. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!