As parents, you try to give your kids the best advice you can. So we always told ours: pick your friends carefully. The people you spend time with are the people you’re most likely to think like, act like, behave like, develop habits like.
That’s the same principle Jesus points to in John 15:4. Jesus teaches us how to build a deep and personal relationship with Him. Jesus says: “Abide in Me, and I in you. In the same way that a branch cannot bear grapes by itself, unless it’s joined to the vine, you cannot bear fruit unless you are joined with Me.”
Here’s what “Abide in Me” means. Jesus is saying: Remain in Me and make Me the complete center of your life. Let everything you think, do, say reflect Me. Live in Me. Make your home in Me. And as you do, Jesus says, I will live and make My home in you. It’s a two-way street. Jesus is saying…the deeper our relationship grows and becomes with Him, His presence will be within us and we will become more like Him.
Abiding in Jesus Christ is a conscientious choice. It’s a decision that we freely make and it depends on our willingness to be consistent with His character, His Word, and His Spirit.
And why does this deep and abiding relationship matter? In the second half of Verse 4, Jesus uses the metaphor of a grape vine to describe the impact of this abiding relationship. Jesus begins by reminding us that our life is like a grapevine. Vines and branches that become disconnected cannot receive the life-giving sap needed to produce fruit and flourish.
Applied to our life, Jesus is saying, remaining connected to Him is a vital, necessary, and life-giving decision. Remaining continuously connected to Him, we follow Him, our attention and dependency remains fixed on Him. Through our divine connection with Jesus Christ, we are provided the spiritual sustenance we need to bear fruit and to live—both now and forever!
This week, let’s focus our complete attention on abiding and remaining in Jesus Christ. And when we do, His presence in our life will bear spiritual fruit. Fruit of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.