Abide And Grow!
"And now, little children, abide in Him, that when
He appears, we may have confidence and not
be ashamed before Him at His coming."
1 John 2: 28
Gardeners know there are two types of tomato
plants: determinate and indeterminate.
Determinates are tomato bushes that produce fruit for a limited
time. Indeterminates are tomato vines that continue to grow
and
bear fruit for as long as the growing conditions are favorable.
In Jesus’ parable of the vine and branches (John 15:1-8), He talked
about grape vines. And modern grapevines don’t bear fruit forever;
they have one season of growth which are then
harvested. But He
introduced an important spiritual concept: abiding, or remaining.
As long as we (the branches) abide (remain) in Jesus (the Vine),
and His words abide (remain) in us, we will bear much fruit. We'll
know the Father (Vinedresser) so well that we ask for whatever
we need and it'll be given to us (verse 7). His will becomes our
will as we pray and ask.
What does it mean to abide in Jesus? It means to live in close
fellowship with Him, in worship, in obedience, in service, in love,
and ministry. In that way, we're prepared for His Second Coming.
"Better to be pruned to
grow than cut up to burn."
John Trapp
