333 Words

333 WORDS….

Lord Jesus: As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.

“Abide in My love.” Why did Lord Jesus say, “Abide in My love” since we have no other choice? Abide means to reside. Since God is omnipresent, so is His love. How can we do anything other than reside in the love of Jesus Christ?

Even non-believers cannot escape the love of Christ. (Tragic, isn’t it? The love of their Creator is fully upon them and they know it not.) So again, why did Lord Jesus instruct us, “Abide in My love”?

Could Teacher have meant, “Reside in the awareness of My love”? Or, “Never forget that you are loved by Me.” Or, “Be cognizant of My constant love for you.”

The christian abiding in the awareness of His love is a thoroughly different christian than the christian who is not. Yes, thoroughly. Abiding in the reality of Christ’s love sanctifies, transforms and heals.

She is busy with housework, glances out the window, notices the rain, and gets lost again in her chores. She knows it is raining, but does not abide in the knowledge of the rain. The rain is of little consequence.

Then she goes for her daily walk, steps into the rain, hears the rain drum on her umbrella, and sidesteps the puddles. Now she is abiding in the reality of the rain.

It’s not easy to “abide in” the awareness of Christ’s love for us. Forgetting is natural; remembering takes effort. The rich reality of His constant love gets lost in our distractions.

Distractions. Most of our distractions are unnecessary, cumbersome and harmful. Distractions may be people or things or pastimes or ambitions. All should be confronted and examined. Many (most?) should be expelled…. simply because distractions hinder us from abiding in His love.

Just as there are degrees of warmth, there are degrees of abiding. While perfect abiding is unreachable, increase is not. More is the goal. More is something to celebrate.