Did I Abide in Christ?

 December 4, 2024

Wednesday

John 15:5 (NIV) ⁵  "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

We should never be elated or sad because of the observed results of our work. Whether we win ten people to Christ or no one comes to Christ for weeks on end, our attitude toward it all should remain the same. The question after seeing what appears to be a failure should be: Did I remain in Christ? If I did, there will be fruit. If I didn't, any fruit that appears will be no fruit at all.

Abiding in Christ is remaining with Him. It is walking with Him, listening to Him and absolutely obeying Him. It has no room for own ideas that spring up because we want to do something creative. All of the creativity should come from the One we are abiding with. 

That doesn't mean that we won't study and work very hard. But that study and work will be done with the Lord rather than separated from Him. We can't say: Lord, you remain here while I go do something fantastic for you. No, our response is simply, "Here I am Lord, send me."

Of course, the work must be covered in prayer. We should pray, "Lord, don't let me try to get ahead of You. Don't let me get behind You. Lord, let me stay with You." Then, if the result is good or bad, it is the Lord's result. Then, you can honestly give Him the glory regardless of the results. Sometimes we can't see the results. In fact, we may never see the results while on this earth for some of the things we do. We simply remain in Him and trust that we will bear much fruit because of Him rather than us.

So, the next time you evaluate your work, don't look at the results. Always ask, "Was I abiding in Him the whole time?" Then, praise Him for He will do something great even if you can't see it.