Abide

My word for this year was Abide. It’s a great word and really set me up for encouragement to stay close to God and lean into Him. But as the year has unfolded, I feel like it has morphed from abide into joy. Joy in Abiding in Him. What does it mean to abide though? It’s a word we don’t use often. 

Abide means to become a part of or join, like a branch joining into the vine. There are lots of Scriptures that discuss abiding in Christ, abiding in the vine, and we cannot bear fruit without first abiding in Him. 

John 15:4 states, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit unless it abides in the vine.” 2 John 1:9b and Colossians 2:6 reiterate this concept. Colossians 3:1-3 talks about setting our minds on Christ and not on earth. This illustrates how important it is to abide in Christ and him alone. Abiding is remaining as it says in John 15:10.  

Oh, to stay connected to Him and not lose the pull of the earth on my heart and life. That is my desire. Abide. Abide with Him, fast.