Abide: Remain
“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.” John 15:4 (ESV)
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” John 15:4 (NIV)
A tree branch cannot produce fruit unless it is connected to the tree. The branch has to be attached to the tree to produce the fruit. If the branch is not connected to the tree, the branch is dead right? A dead branch cannot produce fruit. The same goes for us.
We cannot produce fruit, live a life representative of Jesus, unless we are connected to God. If we are not connected to God through Jesus, we are dead, we cannot produce fruit.
The good news is when God tells us to “abide in me,” He has done the work in CHRIST JESUS. We don’t ever have to struggle to get into Jesus once we are there. Once we abide in Jesus, He abides in us and that doesn’t change.
When we abide in Jesus, when we remain in Him, we can bear fruit. We can start to live a life that looks like his. All we have to do is ABIDE.
