We were created by God for relationship.
Relationship with family.
Relationship with friends. Relationship with other believers and the community around us.
But by far, the most important relationship we will ever have is our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
In John 15, Jesus gives us a picture of what that relationship is supposed to look like:
“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. 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.” — John 15:4–5
Now, I know the word “abide” may sound a little strange—especially here in East Texas. Some translations use the word “remain.” But this is one of those words we shouldn’t just skim over.
The Greek word translated abide is menō. It means to remain, to stay, to continue, to dwell.
In other words, Jesus isn’t asking us to occasionally visit Him. He is inviting us to make our home in Him.
Abiding is choosing to remain close to Christ and allowing His life to become the source of ours.
It’s not just knowing about Jesus.
It’s living connected to Jesus.
It’s a steady, intentional, daily relationship with our Creator where we learn to listen to Him, trust Him, surrender to Him, and allow His Word to shape the way we live.
And sometimes I think we want to skip right over the abiding part and jump straight to the fruit part.
We want to be fruitful.
We want to grow. We want our lives to matter.
We want God to use us.
But Jesus gives us the order:
Remain first. Fruit comes second.
A branch doesn’t strain to produce fruit. It stays connected to the vine, and because it is connected to the source of life, fruit begins to grow.
The same is true for us.
As we remain in Christ, He begins changing us from the inside out.
Romans 12:2 tells us that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.
The more we surrender to Him and allow His Word to renew the way we think, the more our lives begin to reflect Him. We don’t transform ourselves.
We remain. He transforms.
Our job is to stay connected. To surrender. To allow Him to lead us. To build our lives on Him and in Him.
Colossians 2:6–7 says: “And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.
Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”
That’s the picture.
Stay connected.
Stay surrendered. Stay rooted.
Don’t spend your life trying to produce in your own strength what can only come from staying connected to Jesus.
Draw near to Him.
He isn’t hiding from you. He isn’t asking you to have it all figured out before you come. He isn’t asking you to clean yourself up first.
He’s already near. He’s waiting for you.
Come close. Stay close. Make your home in Him. And as you remain in Him, trust that He will do in you what you could never do on your own.
Your job is simply to abide.
Melissa Motes
