Abiding in Christ

Chapter 2 wraps up with one last exhortation from John.

 

"Abide in Him."

 

No religious song, act or service is more important than this. Abide in Christ. John recorded Jesus speaking to this very issue in John 15:5. Jesus said,"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."

 

Nothing. You can perform no service to God that will be recognized apart from Jesus. We can give nothing of ourselves that is worth even the stinkiest of offerings. We must come to the throne with Jesus. And to do that we must daily abide in Him. If a branch falls from a beautiful tree, we do not admire the branch. My! What a lovely branch. So independent! Somehow I love this tree even more now.

 

No. Whatever glory the branch had in being a part of such a magnificent tree is gone. It's only glory now will be in the fire it sustains as it burns to ashes.

 

As I've mentioned before, we become so unnecessarily burdened by such statements as "abide in Him." Somehow we think this is a commandment that will inhibit our ability to enjoy life. I used to be able to sleep in. Now I have to read my Bible. That sort of thing. God's commandments are not joy-suckers. They are joy-givers. By abiding in Christ, not only will your physical life be in better order, but your walk with Him so much closer. And since every good and perfect gift comes from God, abiding in Him seems to be the most logical place to lodge.

 

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Not only does abiding in Him make the most sense now, but we will be grateful we did so in the future. 

Bring yourself back to childhood. It's a Saturday morning (chores day in the Knoop household). Mom says you have two hours to clean your room. Sure, you only need 10 minutes, but obviously you have to play with your Star Wars figures before you put them away. Even Mom knows that. Two hours passes and Mom comes into the room. Its even messier than before. It doesn't matter how much fun you had playing those last two hours. As you hear Mom descending the stairs, your eyes scan the filth, and suddenly you regret your decision to have fun for the entire two hours.

 

This is a poor comparison to meeting God on judgement day, of course, but the idea is tucked away in there. Will some Christians largely waste their time on earth? Probably. Will God still love them and let them in to Heaven? Probably. Will they wish with all their hearts that they had lived different? Yes.

 

Randy Alcorn, author of the book "Heaven," believes that until believers reign on the new earth, those of us who die and go to Heaven will be very aware of our time on earth. If this is the case, imagine sitting and chatting with Moses or Paul or John. Would it not be wonderful to discuss at great length how each of you abided in the Vine? Because I guarantee you Moses won't know much about the Vikings. Paul didn't really keep up with Netflix. And John may not have an opinion on whether or not Taylor Swift should have stayed country. John will ask, "So besides this Netflix, how exactly did you abide in Christ?" I’m not sure if ashamed is even a strong enough word.

 

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Regardless of your view on Heaven, the message stays the same. Verse 29 says that "if you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him." In other words, if you know that God is righteous, you ought to be practicing righteousness, because if you aren't, it's crystal clear that you aren't abiding in Him. And if you aren't abiding, you don't have His joy or strength. And without His joy and strength, you are completely useless to the kingdom.

 

This brings us back to my last post. The only reason we wouldn't be abiding in Christ is because we are being distracted by the world, by its lusts and by our pride. It's not worth it. No joy. No strength. No purpose. Nothing of value can be found apart from the sweetness of knowing God.