The words of Jesus in John 15:1-11 have been on my heart the last couple of days. This should come as no surprise—it’s a profound text. Regarding the passage, I thought about the all-important concept of “abiding.” This refrain is mentioned an astonishing 10 times in this passage! Its Greek word, μεινατε (meinate), means “remain, abide, stay,” and, in addition to the verbal command having an continuous nature based on its definition, it’s also used as a present tense participle (i.e., an “ing” verb type), further denoting the continuous nature. There is a clear message from our Lord: it’s not enough to believe Him, know Him, or even be a part of Him—we must abide with Him and stay there.
Do you ever find yourself drifting away from God? Maybe not in a complete, abandoning-the-faith sense but in a temporal and passive sense? Perhaps it’s something as simple as not having Jesus as your most prized goal or the height of your enjoyment? Maybe you find it easy to enjoy other things—entertainment, hobbies, people, etc.—more than Christ? If so, you’re not alone. That’s part of the reason the passage has been so weighty on my heart. I love Jesus, but I know I don’t love Him as optimally as I should, nor in the fullness of the way the Bible communicates how our love ought to be for Him.
Abiding is a necessary component of our faith and requires intentionality. After all, the Bible is rife with commands and descriptions, from which the inference can be made that Christians need to actively pursue God or risk drifting away (Lk. 9:23-25; Rom.1:18-21; 1 Thess. 5:14,18; 1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:22; Heb. 12:14). Quite simply, we don’t drift towards godliness; we drift towards sin. I believe this is at the core of the “abiding” message here. Jesus knew there would be a tendency toward complacency (on top of false beliefs and worldly cares). He knew some would become satisfied with amazing yet faint elements of joy. He knew some of us would move too quickly, like a baker who pulls the cake out of the oven because it looks good but when it’s also still “loose” at the center. Jesus knew this and provided a telling message in vv.10-11. In those verses, He expressed the Christian’s love-evidence as their obedience and that He desires for us to find complete joy, not merely the superficial version of it.
In the end, like that branch in Jesus’s analogy, I need God’s grace and cleansing/pruning for that is the only way I’ll truly love Christ more supremely, more biblically. Perhaps I’m not alone either. Perhaps there are others who need to faithfully abide—through all circumstances and with constancy—so that our love for Christ may not only blossom but extend to becoming most joyous in Him.
