Where do you live?

Let's return to some familiar verses from the teachings of Jesus.  They are recorded in John 15, where our Lord is speaking to his closest followers.

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ² 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. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me."

What does it mean to you when Jesus commands and then explains the importance for us to abide in him?    While you think about that, consider a little more complex statement in verse 4,  "Abide in me, and I in you."  

Every gardener knows the relation of the vine and branches.  Jesus is letting us know that is an adequate picture of the relationship we should have with him.  His description follows in the latter part of the verse,  "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me."   Don't forget, he is the vine and you are a branch.  That's why Jesus tells us that we, a branch, cannot bear fruit by ourselves.  We cannot successfully bear fruit for him unless we abide in him.

I ask again, what does that mean to you to abide in Jesus and for Jesus to abide in you?   The scholars tell us the word abide in these verses literally mean "to take up residence."  So now we should be asking ourselves if we have taken up residence with Jesus.  Do we follow his teachings?  Are we obedient to his commands?   Do the lives we live reflect we are actually living or abiding in him with our speech, our decisions, our steadfastness?

Consider the extent to which he has gone to live and abide in you.  The Bible describes him as being "slain from the foundations of the world."  That means before you ever committed your first sin, Jesus was already going to be paying for that sin with his own blood.  Before there was ever a sinner, there was already a Savior.  It's his eternal and unfailing love for you that makes him want to abide in you.  He promises his abiding presence in you.  So vital is the reality of you living in him and in him living in you.  

In your time of reading and meditation, continue looking at the next section of John 15.  Especially see the other things related to abiding in Jesus.   You are very loved and cared for when you allow him to live in you, and knowing you live in him. 

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