The clock was relentlessly ticking down to the last seconds before the cross of Christ. Jesus only had a few more unhindered minutes with his beloved disciples. He used this time to give them just what they would need for the days ahead. He shared with them from his heart, knowing that everything would soon be different, they would have to rely upon Him in a whole new way. He made it simple for them. He told them about the one thing that matters. He gave them an analogy to explain their relationship with him in John 15. He explained that they are like branches that have been grafted into the vine who is Jesus. The secret to this relationship is abiding in Christ.

We don’t use the word abide very much now a days. Abiding means: to remain to stay, to dwell, to continue in a place, to remain stable or fixed. The word abode, which means, place of dwelling, comes from abide. The negative of abide, as in, “I cannot abide her!” has come to mean, “I strongly dislike her” but it literally means, “I cannot dwell with or be close to her.” Abiding in Christ is the place where we are close to and stay connected to Jesus.

The Lord often spoke in agrarian terms because his audience was familiar with them, but most of us are city folks and we don’t immediately understand agricultural terms. So I asked a friend who is an expert on horticulture about grafting which is the gardening term for taking a branch and placing it in a vine. I have simplified her answer: Grafting is the horticulture technique where tissues from one plant are inserted into those of another so that the two join together. The outer bark of the branch must be stripped away. For successful grafting, the two tissues must be placed in contact with each other and stay fixed that way, remain (abide, stay, dwell).

Abiding in Christ means the branch (which Jesus says represents our life) touches the very life of the vine, who is Jesus. Christ’s life flows into our innermost man, into our spirit. This is how we receive His life. The picture of abiding is when we release our tight fists holding our agendas, our plans and hopes, even our fears and dreams. We release all that we have and all that we are, and we connect to Him, we take hold of Him and thereby receive His life flowing into our life. This connection, this relationship, is the one thing that matters.

For those who aren’t gardeners but who are more inclined to romance, this connection is the theme of the Song of Solomon. The song is about the courtship and marriage of the king and the Shulamite woman. Their relationship develops over the eight chapters of the Song. By the last chapter we see her coming up out of the wilderness leaning on her beloved.
Our connection to the Lord is the secret place, the place of refuge under the shadow of his wings in Psalm 91.
It is the one thing that David cried for in Psalm 27:4 .
It is the pearl of great price in Matthew 13.
When Jesus spoke to Mary of Bethany who sat at his feet, He spoke of abiding, “Really only one thing matters.”
When we abide in Him, peace rules in our hearts,Colossians 3.
Jesus calls the place of abiding, the place where He is our first love in Revelation 2. He calls us back to this.

Think of Paul. What was the one thing that mattered to him? After listing all his actions of obedience to the Law, he said, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”Then he adds, “Not that I have already obtained it, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:8. Paul’s life goal was to abide in the vine and to keep on abiding.

This connection, this union, this ever deepening relationship is why God gave His only Son to the world. This is the whole reason that Jesus left the glories of heaven to come and live as one of us and to die as our sacrifice. All so we could be in that abiding relationship we were created for.

Do you have this connection with Jesus? Have you released your fears and disappointments to Him? Have you given him your ambitions and dreams? Are you trusting him with the details of your future? Have you taken hold of Christ?

Dear Lord,
Give me the grace to release all my fears and anxiety to you, all the things that I rely on and place ahead of You. Give me the grace to abide in Christ, to stay and dwell and remain. Cause my heart to beat with your heart. Let me love the things you love. Give me a sense of your leading so that I can get into sync with your timing. Cause your priorities to become my priorities. May I draw close to you and not turn aside. This is the one thing that really matters.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen