abide

John 15:4 ~ “Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”

How many times have you been frustrated by this verse?  “Yes, I know,” you say, “I’m suppose to abide in Christ and then the fruit will come, but this whole abiding things...yeah that doesn’t make sense.”  Abiding seems so passive.  We think of it in terms of resting or staying still or not moving.  But the word “abide” is actually a verb.  And what did you learn in  elementary school?  A verb is an action word!  Action?  But abiding seems so stagnant so how can it be an action?  Well, let’s look at one of “abide’s” synonyms: “remain”.  A definition of remain reveals a lot about what it means to abide in Christ: “continue to exist, especially after other similar or related people or things have ceased to exist”.  What does that mean within this verse?  Looking at the context of John 15 Jesus is talking to His disciples after the crowds had dissipated and soon before His death.  Jesus was preparing the disciples for what was to come and helping them to know how they were to survive during times of great turmoil and suffering.  After Jesus death and resurrection and then ascension into heaven the disciples lives were not easy.  They were persecuted, scorned, and rejected.  And so Jesus taught them to remain: no matter if everyone left their side {“ceased to exist”}, no matter if they were the last man standing, no matter if they were being pulled in multiple directions, no matter if life was so distracting...no matter what they were to be faithful to the gospel.  Do you see now how “remain” or “abide” is an action?  When you are being pulled in many directions, dealing with the sufferings of life, it takes force, it takes determination, to stand firm - to remain, to abide, in the truths of the Bible - in the Logos, Christ Jesus.