JESUS CHRIST BIDS US, “ABIDE IN MY LOVE”

A lot easier said than done!

Remember the story about the guy who falls over the cliff, grabs a branch and cries out,

“Help, is there anyone up there?” God calls down, “It’s Me, God. What do you want?” To

which the man replies, “Help me out of here!” God: “Let Go… Trust Me.” And the man

responds, “Is there anyone else up there?”

Obedience, the prerequisite to ABIDING IN HIS LOVE, is simply “letting go” of our

choices and adhering to His, just as Jesus obeyed the Father and thereby ABODE IN HIS

LOVE:

“If you keep My commandments, you will ABIDE IN MY LOVE, just as I have kept My Father’s

commandments, and ABIDE IN HIS LOVE.” (John 15:10)

The more insidious sins that we resist “letting go” of are usually the ones that reside in that

private domain of our lives slightly beneath the surface; subtle sins which still allow us the

luxury of maintaining the facade of Christian respectability:

• A smug sense of superiority amidst our worldly successes.

• Mentally writing people off who no longer matter in furthering our career or status.

• Greedy control over our resources.

• Satisfaction over beating out the other guy in a competitive bid.

• Secretly harboring sins that pander to our lusts.

Christ’s example of obedience toward His Father was immediate, unequivocal and endur-

ing, and cut to the very core of the Lordship issue. It is this standard to which He is calling

us:

“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup (the cross) pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”

(Matthew 26:39) With this surrender He went to the cross.

Obedience, the “letting go” of our will, means giving God TOTAL ACCESS to that private

domain of our lives where those secret sins reside.

To continue pandering covert sins while maintaining a facade of Christian respectability is a

high price to pay for missing HIS ABIDING LOVE.