This is Where I Live

“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. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, it is he that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

To abide somewhere is to live there. That’s home. That’s where you belong. Day in, day out. Where most of your day-to-day “stuff” is. The place you keep coming back to. If I go to a place every 3 or 4 days, or even once a week, that’s not where I abide; I’m really just visiting. It doesn’t matter how comfortable, how friendly, how familiar it is—it’s not where I’m living. If I’m being completely truthful, the place where I do live now isn’t all that comfortable, definitely is not convenient, and is way too far away from anything the least bit familiar… but I’m here every day. I sleep here. My stuff is here. At least for the next year. (11 months and 2 weeks, but who’s counting???) This is where I live.

In John 15, Jesus tells us He want us to abide in Him. (I know, easier said than done!) We need to be with Him daily, even constantly. We can’t just “pop in” every few days to “catch up.” He wants our resting to be in Him, our day-to-day life to be in Him, our emotional breakdowns to be in Him, all our “stuff” to be trusted to Him. The place we keep coming back to has to be Him.

It’s not always comfortable. Not always convenient. It sure as heck isn’t always familiar… in fact, He’s brought me to places that don’t make any sense to me whatsoever. But I know it’s where I’m supposed to be… so this is where I live.

Or at least I try to live here. Every now and then, I try to run away from home… but wouldn’t you know it, that amazing Jesus keeps bringing me back? And when He does, there’s no place I’d rather be than in His arms!