Abide in Jesus…His Invitation, My Choice to Accept
4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:4-5 (NRSV)
Isn’t it wonderful how personal our amazing Almighty God is?
He invites us into communion with Him and longs to be part of our everyday lives, to abide in US! He knows we are but the dust of the earth, He sees us with all our messes and brokenness and He says He wants to be a part of that.
Amazing!
What does it mean to abide in Him?
What would you say abiding looks like? I’ve been convicted lately that it definitely doesn’t look like the fleeting 3 minutes of praying or Bible reading I average on a given day!
Even as I write this brief devotional, my thoughts are divided between that download that didn’t work, that document I need to create, the status I just wrote on Facebook and a myriad of other things that clutter my day, tearing my attention away from my time with Jesus. But as God turns my mind toward abiding in Him and letting that phrase soak into my soul, my thoughts and prayers return to Him throughout the day.
Lord! Help me to abide in You!
Today, keep those three words of invitation in mind as you go about your busy day: “Abide in me”. Write them down.
- Post them.
- Hear the Savior whisper it in your ear when you want to explode at your children.
- Think of it often as you discuss difficult topics with your husband.
- Dwell on it in the few moments of quiet after the children are tucked in before getting to the laundry.
Abide in me.
It has a continuous and comforting ring to it, doesn’t it? It is safety. It is rest.
Accept His invitation…choose to abide in Jesus.
