September 22: Abide in Me

Jesus is a master teacher, and His analogies are brilliant in their insight. In our passage today, Jesus is showing us just how spiritually dependent we are on Him. We’re like a branch of a grapevine. The grapes grow on the branch because it is connected to the life of the vine. If the branch separates from the vine, it dies and cannot bear fruit. The fruit only comes through a life-giving, abiding connection with the vine.

Jesus is telling us that’s how our spiritual lives are. We can only bear spiritual fruit such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23) if we have a life- giving, abiding connection with Christ Himself. He is our life. And it is only in our connection with Him that we are spiritually alive.

So how do we abide in Jesus? That’s really the key question, and the good news is
we don’t have to guess at the answer, because Jesus unpacks it for us. He invites us to have “my words abide in you” (v. 7), and to “abide in my love” (v. 9), and to “keep my commandments” (v. 10). So, abiding in Jesus means dwelling in His Word, resting in His love, and walking in obedience. The more we soak in the truth of His Word, the more we abide in Him. The more we drink in the wonder of His love, the more we abide in Him. The more we follow Him in obedience, the more we abide in Him.

God’s Word. God’s Love. God’s Way. This is the abiding life.