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Abiding…..week three

John 15:4

What does it mean to remain? As we continue to talk about the concept of abiding and what Jesus is asking of us in John 15, He then goes to the word “remain”. The definition I love the most is the word, “rest”. To remain means to rest. 

For those of you who have graduated and moved out of your folks house do you ever notice how when you go back home something inside of you shifts to this place of a little kid. Now, I know some of you had difficult and painful situations with your parents, so put grandparents, or surrogate parents, in their place.

I tell my parents  that when I go home it is as if they have piped something into the air ducts that makes me think I need to just eat, sleep and sit with my mom in her chair. There is something about being in that environment that just brings me to a place of rest. It goes back to that place that our home was where we abide. We abide inside the confines of family. And we rest there as well.

One of my favorite passages of scripture is Psalm 131:2 “But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.” Not that picture is the personification of rest. And that is what Jesus is inviting us to. And as we rest in Him, rest our minds, our hearts, our fears, our doubts inside the truth that He is our Father and there is no place we are more protected, or safer or welcome than in His care, then He remains, or rests with us.

Now, that is an even more beautiful picture. That takes me back to the book The Shack, where Jesus is out on the dock with the main character. Such a beautiful picture of rest. And it is in that rest that the greatest fruit is produced. “Seek ye first, the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.” “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you can ask what you will and it will be done unto you.” It is  in the abiding that things are accomplished. Fruit hangs. People pick. God is glorified.

God is inviting you into His rest. And as you enter into it, He enters into it with you. Whether on the golf course. Whether by the pool. Whether hiking a mountain. Whether sitting on the sofa or your front porch. He sits with you. Enjoying you. And much…oh so much is produced.

 

 

Denise Jones Reclaiming Hearts

Hi, I’m Denise!

I love Jesus, my family and friends, my sweet dog Sophie, SEC football and Coca-Cola.