Abide Disciple Abide

I have a garden which I love caring for this summer. I have watched my garden grow and enjoyed the harvest that it yielded. Throughout the summer I have also learned more about what it means to abide. As I have enjoyed my garden and the word of God the concept of “to abide” has been woven together. In the book of John Jesus shows us what it means to abide with the Father. Today I want to take a deeper look at what it means to abide.

Vine cucumber picture taken by Grace Wick

W- ord

John 15:1-2 NKJV

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Jesus has established what he is talking about when He states that He is the True Vine and His Father is the one who does the pruning. He goes on to address what all this means to us as we continue in John 15:5-8

“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. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you[b] will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

O-bservation

Abiding is key. There are two choices for the branch, it can either be cut off or it can be pruned. The branch does not have the option to be left alone, nor does the branch have the option to grow wild. To abide means that we are pruned from time to time. The word abide is used eight times in the first eight verses of John fifteen. To learn what it means and to learn to truly abide is a crucial concept.

R-eflection

A branch that does not learn to abide dies. Why does it die? Death comes to any living plant that does not receive nourishment from its source, the roots. If I am the branch as Jesus says then in order to live I have to abide. The branch then has two choices: it can abide and be cut off, or it can abide and be pruned.

The problem is that most of us don’t know how to abide. To abide is not a temporary thing. For a branch to abide only part-time is a rather large problem. This is the problem for most of the church and even for myself; my abiding is not an all the time thing. I have spent much of my walk with the Lord delegating the place and time where the Lord speaks to me and how he might move to fit my life. This is not a picture of abiding. The question I ask as I contemplate a deeper place of abiding is- am I willing to hear my Father’s voice and talk to someone in any where I go. Am I willing to listen and hear my Father’s voice while I am at work, in the grocery store or even while driving down the road. What if in abiding my Father wants me to talk to someone I don’t know in the middle of Costco? To abide is a full-time thing. When I abide even when I am in a season of pruning, I am connected and firmly attached at all times.

Abiding is not a few minutes in the morning. I am here to do my devotions, my daily Bible reading then I am off to my day. To abide is an all the time posture where I am willing to be “interrupted” and directed at any moment to any situation or person the Lord has for me to talk to. My abiding is more like the cycle of a day, it is circular in nature and begins in the morning but flows at all times. This abiding at all times allows me to bear much fruit. It is for the glory of my Father that I bear much fruit.

I learn these lessons deeply when I look at my garden and ponder what takes place. I would be disappointed in my garden if it did not bear fruit. When I examine the vines that grow in my garden and the fruit that they bear even when the vine does not look beautiful the fruit may be gorgeous. The fruit does not work to be there, but it does hold on tight. I have different vines growing different fruits, but all the fruit holds on tightly until I pick it. I have to actually put in great effort to separate my fruit from the vine and the vine from the branches by using a tool to cut it. I cannot just touch it and have it fall apart. This is an important lesson for us. If we are the vine designed to effortlessly bear fruit, we had better learn to truly abide.

May the Love of Jesus capture your heart. He loves you more than you can fathom.

Grace