Word of the Week: Abide

On Sunday we finished up our sermon series, “Who is Jesus?” by looking at John 15:1-11. Here Jesus tells us that he is the true vine. If we abide in him and he in us, we’ll bear much fruit – but apart from him we can do nothing. The key to this fruit is in one word: abide. The Christian life is all about abiding in Jesus. So how do we do it?

1. The Word – In verse 7, Jesus mentions that his word abiding in us is a key element of our abiding in him. I know it’s a pastor cliché to say read the Bible, but Jesus is talking about something more than that. It’s easy to quickly read the Bible in the morning before we head off to work only to avoid losing the week-long streak on our app. But that’s not abiding. Abiding means letting God’s word soak into you. It’s better to read a little bit of Scripture that you think about through the day than multiple chapters if you forget about them once you close your Bible.

2. Prayer – This one would be easy to overlook. Jesus tells us at the end of verse 7 that abiding in him means being able to ask him anything and that God will hear our prayers. Abiding in the love of God means praying to the one we love with confidence. We don’t go as though we must convince God to hear us out. We go with the expectation that he’ll do what we ask, because he loves us.

3. Obedience – Jesus tells us in verse 10 that keeping his commandments is part of abiding in his love. Loving God and loving others are in no way optional for Christians. Love always seeks to please its beloved – and our love for God is no different. Obedience to God doesn’t earn us any more of his love, but it shows the love we have for him.

These three aren’t the only ways we can abide in Jesus, but they’re the three I can pull out in John 15. Can you think of others? Do you have particular practices that have helped you abide?