Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me (John 15:4)
Living the Christian life requires not only that we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but also that we follow closely. Everyone Jesus called, he anticipated that they would follow (Matthew 4:19). It is in the following that we are made. It is in the following that we are transformed. Becoming like Christ would inevitably mean that we first learn to follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:21). Coming to Jesus is only one-half of the equation; it takes enduring to the end to be saved (Matthew 24:13). Life offers us many opportunities to decide whether to continue to follow on or to turn back. And many are they who for diverse reasons have chosen to end their walk with the Lord prematurely. Examples exist of men and women in the mold of Demas who at one point was described as a faithful servant (Colossians 4:14) but who later abandoned the cause of the gospel of Christ having loved this present world (2 Timothy 4:10).
We as humans may be excited and carried away with the crowd and the sight of a large congregation, but Christ is never. Beyond the milling crowd, he desires to see the few who are truly committed and resolutely convinced as to why they are following.
Jesus at some point had to ask the two disciples of John who decided to follow him the one question that he still asks us today – what seek ye? (John 1:38-39). Until we are sure of the exact reason(s) we follow the Lord, chances are high that we may not follow closely nor go far in our journey. And the example of Peter reminds us that following from afar is the one reason many believers so easily deny the Lord. The question of why we follow is one that we must answer and be absolutely convinced of, if we are to easily give our all to any pursuit or venture.
Abiding in the Lord will require that we first are convinced that it pays well to do so. Many of the issues within the body of Christ will be easily resolved and perhaps be non-existent in the first place if we all have a full and genuine understanding of why we are in him. There are still far too many within the body who are there for the wrong reasons. It is common to see many who think we honestly are doing the Lord a favour by following and serving him. We should never forget that ours is an election of grace and that there are countless wise and noble people who have not been so privileged (1 Corinthians 1:26). The Bible bears record to instances where Christ had to forbid or perhaps discourage people from following him. And the reasons often times are not far from uncured motives (Matthew 8:19-20). We are reminded of the crowd who came running after him more for the reason of the bread and fish that they hope to eat than for the reason of the eternal life which he holds (John 6:26). The question, ‘what seek ye?’ is as valid today as it was when it was first asked. It is my opinion that it is the one question we must provide genuine answer to everyday as we follow the Lord and seek to abide in him. Following the Lord genuinely requires that we daily x-ray and purify our motives. The day we see our hearts drifting away from the Lord himself and towards to those things that may be seen as benefits for following him, then the first signal would have appeared that our love for him has begun to wax cold.
Ironically, following the Lord, no doubt holds a lot of promises both now and in the world to come, but loving him in spite of all of these should be our ultimate goal.
There is no doubt that Christ is exalted when people come to him and are saved, healed or helped in some other way, but we should never forget that it is ultimately to our advantage that we remain in him. We are reminded that we can do absolutely nothing on our own, except we abide in Him (John 15:4). Bearing fruits is outside of the reach of man except enabled by God. Man could have no ability to be fruitful or multiply except that he was first blessed of God (Genesis 1:28). And the moment men fell off that grace and blessing, varying degrees of unfruitfulness set in. We must nevertheless be careful to draw the line between worshipping the Lord for who he is and worshipping him for what he does for us. We could patronize him for the miracle and still end up being the loser in the end. We could eat of the miracle bread and yet miss the bread if life.
What abiding and remaining in him does for us is far more than the initial excitement of knowing his power. The ultimate in our walk with the Lord is not just experiencing his power but sharing in his very nature. We therefore must be intentional about choosing and prioritizing the ways of God above his acts (Psalm 107:3). When we abide, we drink of him and eat of him. Christ was emphatic that until we drink of him.and eat of him, we have no life in us (John 6:53). We may snatch a few miracles and run away only to show up again whenever we think we need another miracle, but true living is in abiding. The reason given by Peter as to why they would not leave the Lord when the crowd left is very instructive and deserves our contemplation – we know that thou hast the word of eternal life (John 6:68). It speaks to a people who have crossed the line of living just for today and who have escaped the snare of self and immediate gratification. We should never forget that this same Peter had at one point engaged the Lord very frontally with a question that has become the snare of many – “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” (Matthew 19:27). Jesus’ response in the verses that followed is even more intriguing – “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” Notice that in offering his promises to the disciples, Jesus started from the end – at the renewal of all things and ended with the subtle admonition that only those who are careful to hold their places to the very end will attain unto these realities. Again, the point must be made that there is more to coming to the Lord than just accepting him as Lord and Saviour.
Not only have we been called out of darkness (1 Peter 2:9), we are admonished to live to the praise of his glory and to walk in the light as he is in the light (1 John1:17). The whole essence of our call is not to go to heaven but to become more like Jesus. As we behold the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. And this is only made possible by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18). There are no transformations from afar. Only the one who constantly beholds is changed. Our continuous cleansing derives from our continuous fellowship with him. When we stay out of union and fellowship with the Lord, we are broken off as a branch and wither (John 15:6). The ultimate end of a withered branch is that men gather them for firewood. This explains why many believers fall from a great height of significance to one of near zero relevance. There is clearly nothing we can amount to independent of the Lord.
Living like him may not exactly be like an ice cream party, but there is never a vocation the Lord calls us into without providing the grace needed. This is our utmost consolation. The commandments of the Lord are not grievous (1 John 5:3), his yoke is easy and his burden is light (Matthew 11:30). Walking with the Lord entails too that we walk in love. The one mark that Christ gave us and by which men may know that we are his disciples is that we love one another (John 13:35). He that loveth not knoweth not God (I John 4:8), but the one who loves has passed from death unto life (1 John 3:14). And as we walk through the month of May, let us endeavour to abide in him, Walking as He walked and holding dearly to those things that matter the most to the Lord, knowing that we no longer belong to ourselves. We have been bought with a price. Let us therefore glorify God in our entirety. Let us continually abide in him, knowing that without him, we can do nothing.
