After
yesterday’s thought, I hope you were left with the unequivocal assurance that
you belong to Jesus and you have committed yourself to complete surrender. So,
now your are ready to take the first step along the road to a fulfilling life
in Christ ….ABIDING IN THE SAVIOR!
Before
Christ left the Upper Room, he drew that small band of men known as his
disciples into a tightly formed circle (my conjecture) and began to share with
them his dying words. He spoke gently, but firmly to them, as he continued to
teach them and to prepare them for what the next hours and days would bring. He
told them in John 15. “ I am the true Vine and my Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch
that bears fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Abide in me as I abide
in you. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him,
he will bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15: 1-2,
4a, 5
Did
you catch all that? Do you hear the words of your Savior just hours before he
began his journey to the cross of Calvary ? Do
you fully understand all that he is trying to tell each of us as He prepares us
for what lies ahead?
I
believe I can best illustrate what Jesus was saying by sharing a little of my
history regarding my service in the US
Now,
I was stationed aboard an old tin can destroyer, USS Strong DD-758, a World War
II relic, if ever there was one. Our ship was tethered to the pier in our home port of Charleston ,
SC when it wasn’t in route overseas for a
Mediterranean cruise or sailing about the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean . I learned early as a seaman in the deck
force that the ship needed to be in the water to do the most good…to perform
its duties and function as a member of the Sixth Fleet. I also learned that
though it was good for the ship to be in the water, it was extremely BAD for
the water to get into the ship.
The
ship had to abide in the water or it was just a large hunk of metal that had
little value…it could not fulfill its true mission as a naval vessel unless it
was in the water; however, it made for a very bad situation if the water got
into the ship.
Now
in this example, the water is two very distinct things….it is Jesus and it is
the World. For each of us to reach our highest and greatest potential, we need
to be like the ship and abide in the water…Jesus. If we are taken out of the
water, we will be of little value; not much more than a big pile of flesh and
bones, waiting for the undertaker. In the water of Jesus, we are free to sail
far and wide as we accomplish the things that we were created to do; but, in
the water as the World, we face serious problems if we let the world inside of
us.
Trust
me, you do not want to be in the middle of the ocean and hear the command to “abandon
ship”….the only place you have to go is into the water…and many a sailor has
drowned at sea when they left the comforts of their vessel for the dark waters
of a raging storm.
So
how do we keep the water out of us, yet sail unfettered in this world in which
we live…we abide in Jesus and we do as he taught his disciples….GUARD YOUR
HEART!
Dr.
Bruce Wilkinson’s book, SECRETS OF THE VINE, offers some helpful
insights to help us understand how we can guard our hearts from the drowning
effects of the water of the world…so, come back tomorrow and we will uncover
these wonderful principles together.
Sailing
in the loving waters of my Savior,
WPQ
Thought
for the Day:
If upon life's seas your tossed
And water gets in your boat…
Abide in Jesus, just trust in Him
And you will stay afloat.
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