“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me? “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing. John 15: 1-5
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10: 38-42
What do these passages say? What do these passages teach you about following Jesus?
According to these passages, is God more interested in what you can do for him or in the time we spend with hIm?
Our Christian walk is not about what we can do for God. It’s not about how often we attend services, we give, or the people we help. It is more about the intimate, growing relationship that we have with Jesus. Our time spent with Him and listening to Him. Everything else will fall into place because of our love for Him is growing.
We don’t use the word abide in everyday conversation. However, a term we could use remains. Jesus is inviting us to stay with Him, to stick to Him. Our time with Jesus isn’t an invitation to do things for Him. It’s an invitation to be with Him. In the above passage, Jesus approved Mary for sitting at His feet and spend time with Him. When we busy ourselves like Martha, we miss the joy Mary found in abiding(remaining) in Jesus. When we stay in Jesus, we are allowing Jesus to fill us up. The rest of the things we do in our life are the overflow of our time meeting with Jesus.
God the Father wants to spend time with each of us. He desires a relationship with each of us. It is a daily invitation to be with Him. There is nothing more important than making time to meet with Jesus to be with Him. Everything else that we do for God will come from our time we meet with Him. God has called us to a loving relationship with Him before anything else.
In your relationship with God, is your Christian life characterized by activity or intimacy?
Is your desire to have regular unhurried time alone with God been increasing?
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for wanting to have a relationship with each of us that doesn’t require us to do anything else. I pray that we will desire to meet with you every day. I pray then from our time with you will be our desire to do as you ask.
In Jesus Name
Amen
