Abiding in Jesus is one of the most important concepts for living in a close, personal relationship with Jesus. Without an abiding relationship in Jesus, we live a fragmented faith life and Jesus does not integrate our daily living. Jesus wants us to abide in him so that our friendship grows deeper and our life is filled with greater fulfillment and purpose.
So what exactly is abiding? Abiding is like getting dressed every morning. Generally, we all get dressed where we live. Then we leave our houses or apartments to live our daily lives, while still remaining in the clothes we put on. Similarly, when we abide in Jesus, we come to him each morning and renew our connection with him. We sink ourselves into the person of Jesus and put our roots down deep into Jesus' soil. Then, we leave our home to live our daily lives, remaining in an intentional and continual state of connection with Jesus throughout the day.
Examining the life of Jesus reveals the abiding in greater detail, and highlights two main aspects of it. Mark 1:35 says, "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." Luke 5:16 states that "Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to pray." We see that Jesus was intentional to find a place to withdraw to pray and be with alone God. In these times, Jesus was "putting on his clothes" to abide in God. Luke implies that Jesus withdrew to pray on a consistent basis, and that the withdrawing to be alone with God became a routine and habit. The withdrawing developed a deep friendship and intimacy that can often only be developed by spending time alone with God. This is the first part of the abiding, the withdrawing to be alone with God - which prepares Jesus for the second.
The second part of the abiding in the life of Jesus is found in his daily living. As Jesus lived his daily life, he remained in a continual state of aligning himself with God. In John 5:19 and 8:28, Jesus said he only did as he saw the Father doing and spoke as he heard the Father speaking. This means that the words that Jesus spoke and the actions that he did came directly from his abiding relationship with God. And Jesus did this by aligning himself with God and remaining in God throughout the day.
The example of Jesus provides us with a model for an abiding relationship with him. Just as Jesus withdrew to be alone with God, we too are encouraged to withdraw to be alone with Jesus. This will look different for different people, but Jesus' model encourages us to find a place of solitude where we can be alone to cultivate a deep friendship. When we withdraw, we cultivate a prayer life by talking with Jesus and listening as Jesus speaks into our lives. We can also read Scripture. Scripture is where we discover more of Jesus' character and how Jesus wants us to love others as we live our daily lives. We can also implement spiritual practices such as silence, listening, fasting, waiting, meditating, etc. to help cultivate our relationship with Jesus.
Abiding also involves remaining in connection with Jesus as we go throughout our day. This means that we align ourselves internally with Jesus , living in a continuous relationship with him. So as we are working our jobs, attending class, spending time with family or friends, we are listening to and watching for Jesus so that we can speak as he speaks and act as he acts. We can do this by simply turning an ear to Jesus while we listen to others, and an eye to Jesus while we interact with others. This allows us to partner with what Jesus wants to say and do through us as we live out each day. We can also simply invite Jesus into our thinking or doing so that our life becomes a union with him.
At the core of the abiding is Jesus' desire to have a close friendship with you. Jesus wants to abide in you, and you to abide in him (John 15:4) - in your withdrawing and daily living. So as we follow Jesus, let us remember to cultivate the habit of withdrawing to be with alone Jesus and remaining in connection with him as we live out each day.
Jesus, would you give us the grace to abide in you - to withdraw to cultivate our friendship and live our daily lives in continual connection with you - that we may enjoy life more fully and love others well. Amen.
Additional Abiding Resources:
Practicing His Presence, Brother Lawrence & Frank Laubach
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